To Shatter Fate
by TheTechnoMage
Summary: "So give me a strong blade, and enough strength to shatter fate." His blade wasn't strong enough to prevent his fate the first time. So, given another chance, will he prevail? Discontinued/Indefinite Hiatus. Tremendous apologies. AN in final chapter.
1. Prologue

**I swear to whatever friggin' divine power that exists on this shitshow of a planet that I will finish rewriting these original crapshow 'Volume Zero' chapters eventually.**

 **At some point.**

 **Hey, at least if you're reading this it's proof I actually started, which is definitely something coming from the guy that promised to rewrite these chapters after a complete screwup when he first started writing almost an entire YEAR ago.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the lovely things I portray, but on another note can I claim ownership of some sort of miracle that allows me to finish writing Volume Two of my story before Volume Six of RWBY airs? Pretty please?**

 **(I don't own RWBY or Bleach)**

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 **It Begins**

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Death was never the end for him, never had been and it probably wouldn't be for centuries, though he paid no heed to those thoughts. He had been taken by death's grasp more times than should befit a human seventeen year-old, and had escaped every time. He'd escaped whether through his own determination and by his own power or by tearing through death's grasping fingers with the blood-soaked claws of a demon.

And yet now as he lay on cracked and broken stones, his own blood (for there was no over liquid that could reasonably be soaking into his tattered remains of clothing right now) pooling beneath him, he felt death's grasp once again.

But now there were no words of denial, no immense willpower to destroy whatever higher power had dictated his time come now, and even the demon seemed to slumber, its power doing nothing against the encroaching claws of its host's demise.

If he had been younger, a boy truly of age seventeen and not one of age alone with mind hardened by battle and blood and _war_ , then he may have fought against it. He may have wondered where he could've taken a path that hadn't left him in this state.

Ichigo could've cursed the grand manipulators who decided the path his entire life had taken, but what point was there in cursing a man condemned to an eternity imprisoned beneath Soul Society or cursing a king who watched his kingdom crumble as he faded from the world, felled by Ichigo's own blades?

He could've cursed those whose duty it was to fight these wars, for they had failed in their duty and he had not, but Genryusai Yamamoto had fulfilled his duty for the last thousand years and had earned his right to rest.

He could've cursed his own powerlessness, but Old Man Zangetsu merely wished to protect him, to prevent him walking the path that inevitably led to this moment, bleeding to death on the paved stones somewhere in Seireitei as the world around him crumbled.

He could've cursed any of his traits that decided he be the one to fight, be the one to throw himself against armies and monsters alike for the sole wish of protecting, but he wouldn't for it would betray the essence of who he was. He would protect them, at any and all costs to himself.

So many alternatives, so many things he could blame or wish had occurred differently, but he wouldn't. He'd fought to the end, sacrificing what little energy he had left to deal a killing blow against his enemy to prevent the world Juhabach had wanted to create from coming to fruition.

Yet even though his enemy was gone, he could feel the innate wrongness that Ywach's death brought about, he could hear the destruction raging through what little hearing he had left. He hadn't the strength left to continue fighting; he'd protected them, that was what mattered. He had no doubts that his friends and fellow warriors could deal with whatever resulted from the end of this.

When death's grip took him once more, he made no attempts at resistance and the demon's power slumbered.

After all, death was only ever the beginning for Kurosaki Ichigo…

* * *

 **Well, I finally rewrote one of the crappy beginning chapters, that's something, right?**

 **Evidently, I know this is about half the length of the original prologue, but that was a bunch of recalling to things about Bleach or events of the Thousand Year Blood War arc that realistically wasn't needed, so instead has been swapped for what I believe, at least, to be better quality writing.**

 **For anyone new, welcome to the story, this rewritten chapter is being done just before I've even started writing Chapter 22. Not to sound completely clichéd on this site (which I'm doing) but forgive the lack of quality in earlier chapters, specifically ones before the start of canon RWBY, I'll be rewriting them at some point.**

 **For reference: The village at the start of the next chapter is the one from Episode one of RWBY Volume Four.**

 **Now that's over with, constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I'll see you either when I rewrite more early chapters or when I write new ones.**

 **See ya next time :D**


	2. Childhood

**Well… Didn't expect to be back here so soon with another chapter but with all the positive reviews and achieving 21 favourites and 40 follows in less than a day the situation demanded I come back and write more of this, so here I am, with the first official, not prologue chapter of A Sword.**

 **I don't own Bleach or RWBY, my writing is too crap.**

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 **Volume 0: Chapter 1: Childhood**

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If asked, anyone in the village of Kabukicho would say that Ichigo Kurosaki, the son of local huntress Masaki Kurosaki, was a great kid. He was born in the village and had only really left on trips with his mother. He could be described as a complete and total Mamma's boy, and nobody would really dispute them. But he was still a good kid.

Throughout his childhood he had done his best to help the village, whether through the small jobs only someone the size of a ten year old could do, or attempting to help with jobs that would be saved for somebody of a capable age.

The key word there being _attempting_. Even when he was younger, he always wanted to help and took on jobs too big for him, possibly injured himself and then cried until his mother returned.

Hence the Mamma's boy comment.

But that didn't matter to Ichigo, all that mattered to him was his mother (or Kaa-Chan, as he always seemed to call her in that old Mistrali language his mother taught him) and helping people. He had always thought and dreamed about becoming a huntsman when he was older, just like his mother, because he wanted to live up to his namesake given to him by his mother.

He who protects, or Number one protector, as his name translated to in old Mistrali.

Masaki had always told him bedtime stories of great heroes, of Knight's in shining armour, of happy endings. And Ichigo wanted that for the whole world.

He wasn't blind, he could see the racism against the faunus and he detested it, probably the only thing the kid could truly hate, being undue harm caused to others. In the end, Ichigo probably had a death wish, going as far as mouthing off to a huntsman visiting the village to stock up on supplies from the blacksmith only to get into a shouting match because he believed he shouldn't have to pay the regular fee when he was being served by a , as he put it "Filthy animal".

Probably the first time anybody saw a scowl on Ichigo's face, or heard him yell out in rage for the man to leave and never return after talking to his friend that way. His friend being the blacksmith's apprentice that would take over the shop in a few years, a faunus named Alexander, fondly nicknamed Xander by Ichigo (who complained his name was too long but Alex was too bland).

Ichigo met Xander when he was 6 and was asked to grab a few things for his mother, and his mother had to give him something to do while she did work, so she sent him to the shop where he met the, at the time, 19 year old blacksmithing apprentice, who told him to leave because he was too young to be in a place full of weapons, but give him credit, Ichigo was stubborn about getting stuff for his mother, which led to the most intense staring contest anybody could ever say was participated in by a six year old, but most of the village assumed Ichigo won, because after an hour of glaring at eachother, Xander finally went to get the gear Masaki requested and took Ichigo for lunch.

To this day nobody understood how that made them friends, but it did. Either way it gave Masaki someone to keep an eye on Ichigo when she had to leave (the times like this she would try her best to see if the job could be given to someone else, because she absolutely HATED those puppy dog eyes that Ichigo used when he didn't want her to leave, she swore that should've stopped working when he was, like seven or something, but even now it works, and he was ten for crying out loud!)

Such as the case now…

"Come on Kaa-Chan, please get someone else to go, I don't like it when you leave" The Ten year old Ichigo whined.

"I won't be gone long, just for a few days" Replied Masaki calmly, having been used to Ichigo being this, well, _Ichigo._

See, most children wouldn't want their parents to leave them, what with Ichigo's father never being present in his life to the point he didn't know his name or even if he was alive. But with Ichigo, it wasn't about being left alone, it was –

"I don't want you to get hurt!" that the kid was too freaking protective, to the point it had become somewhat of a joke among the village, how the Ten year old wanted to protect the trained warrior.

"And I won't get hurt, it's just recon, a village nearby went off the radar and nobody has heard from them for three days, I need to see what's happened." Masaki reasoned again, hoping to settle the distraught carrot-top.

"But-." Ichigo was about to rebuke, had Masaki not interrupted.

"What if the village was attacked? Or someone was hurt? Do you want anyone left in that village, scared and alone, to be gobbled up by a Grimm because you were being protective?" And with that, Masaki completely rebuked any arguments the ten year old may have had.

"So why don't you head over to Alexander's and see if you can help out in the shop?" Masaki offered, seeing her son's chocolate brown eyes light up in excitement at the idea.

"Sure, I'll head over right now!" He stated before running straight into his mother and wrapping her in a hug. "Come back soon." Came the muffled plea from Ichigo before he removed himself from his mother and headed for the exit.

"I will, I promise." Was Masaki's reply, she would never, No, she REFUSED to leave her son to fend for himself in this harsh world.

And with that she headed towards the intended target for her mission.

The village of Kuroyuri went dark almost a week before, with no word from anyone there, and coupled with it reports of a strange type of Grimm, Masaki knew she had her work cut out for her.

* * *

 **Well there's first official, non-prologue chapter of A Sword, showing how life was for Ichigo as a child along with some stuff with Masaki.**

 **Predicted answers to questions you have:**

 **Ichigo doesn't have his memories.**

 **I've left the spot of Ichigo's dad blank because I'm unsure of giving him a father from canon (everybody knows who it is) or just leaving his dad as an unnamed, dead huntsman purely because I don't want to bring many Bleach characters into this, because this is a RWBY centric crossover, Ichigo is there, and will have his own effects on the story and the Characters in it, but if I added loads of Bleach characters, most of which are warriors trained over centures, no RWBY canon characters will get a chance to spotlight because it'll be being robbed by the dude with all the flower petals, or the sword that makes Ice dragons, or Kenpachi in general.**

 **As for Antagonists though…**

 **No comment.**

 **As for Masaki, she does TECHNICALLY have her Quincy powers, but I'm only really giving her a spirit bow (Ginrei Kojaku seems overkill TBH).**

 **I loved all the positive reviews the first chapter received and the people who posted them, I encourage people to write reviews on this story and give their opinions and criticism (note that I said Criticism and not hate, you can call my story aspects bad but at least justify it a little).**

 **Honestly with all the follows and favourites the first chapter got I wanna see how quickly we can get that number up, so only follow and favourite if you like it, I'm not pressuring you into it.**

 **Also Shoutout to MCBOSSWAFFLES A very good friend of mine who just recently made an account and promptly found my story by accident, and then ended up being a guy I could spitball story ideas to, really helps to have a second opinion in these things.**


	3. Kuroyuri

**I don't own Bleach or RWBY. My writing is too crap.**

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 **Volume 0: Chapter 2: Kuroyuri**

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Masaki really wasn't in the best mood. That was her thought as she plunged a Seele Schneider into the… ' _Was it fourteenth or seventeenth?'_ – Either way, she had ended up running into many Grimm on the way to Kuroyuri, and that did NOT bode well for what she would find inside the village.

Her thoughts were distracted as yet another Beowulf leapt out of the bushes on the edge of the forest path and onto the road, right in front of her, probably trying to look intimidating, not expecting to meet an already drawn spirit bow releasing an arrow into its face.

Masaki _Really_ wasn't in a good mood.

She just hoped Ichigo didn't get himself into TOO much trouble while she was gone, purely because asking her son to not get into trouble seemed the same as asking him not to breath, dare she say that her little strawberry just _attracted_ shitty situations.

First time she left him alone for a mission: he somehow ended up getting picked on by other kids in the village, and Masaki didn't need to make the trip to their parent's house more than once. Let it be known the Masaki took lessons on being generally scary from Glynda Goodwitch herself, although for some reason she had still caught Ozpin wondering to himself from time to time who was scarier.

Unfortunately, she could scare the parents, but children weren't so easily deterred from making fun of her son's _bright orange_ hair. She had once returned while they were picking on him, and needless to say, she was shocked when they started throwing punches, and he just _stood there_.

When she had later asked him why he didn't do anything his reply was "They bully the faunus, but if they're too distracted with me, the faunus kids get left alone." Her thoughts that instant were that her son's bravery _or stupidity_ would get him into a **lot** of trouble in days to come, and she wasn't wrong.

The third time she left the village, well, she had to get the story from the Mayor when she got back on why her son was bruised and slightly bleeding. And when she says get, the villagers will say _terrify the Mayor_ into telling her. Apparently the third time was the charm, for the kids to get overzealous and think that if Ichigo was going to stand there and let them bully him that they could multitask beating up him and the 'disgusting animals' in the village, truly, the hatred of adults spread to their children and it would mean the faunus would never get their rights back.

According to Xander, who was about to stop them, it got interesting there. In Xander's words "The moment one of those idiot kids raised a hand to hurt anyone other than Ichigo, the kid punched one of their lights out." Masaki would never forget the pride she heard in Xander's voice that her son stuck up for the faunus, and it might've been then that she understood why their friendship worked.

And she was proud of her son for sticking up for his beliefs. Ichigo believed as much as the White Fang themselves did that faunus deserved equal rights. And it would be one of the conversations she would never forget having with her son, because she didn't think a (at that time) nine year old could hold such a mature philosophy about others.

When she asked him why he was so adamant about sticking up for the faunus, especially when a lot of the other kids looked down on them, he replied "Why is it always that?"

Masaki, who was confused at what he was talking about, asked him what he meant. His reply was what made her do a double take. He simply answered "Those titles, Human and Faunus. I think it should just be people, because what is the point of dividing everyone up when they all have the common enemy of the monsters?"

Masaki had never heard such a philosophy from any trained or veteran Huntsman or Huntresses, and it filled her with a pride to know her son thought that.

Her son, the reason she did all this, to protect him, she reminded herself as she put yet another arrow through the Ursa that had interrupted her thoughts. Using her semblance, a form of aura manipulation unseen in most Hunters, to release another Seele Schneider as an arrow through the Ursa's hide. Her semblance was focused through the pendant she carried around, and used as her weapon in conjunction with Seele Schneiders, which were small containers filled with her aura manipulated to be used as a blade, or in some cases as an arrow.

Her fighting style was sometimes likened to Glynda Goodwitch's, primarily because their fighting style required their semblances to function at all, which could be seen as a weakness as it would render them defenceless if they ran out of aura. Masaki's way of countering this was through the creation of her Seele Schneider because it was forged beforehand, using her aura to create it at the time.

Her thoughts and reflections ended as she reached the end of the road, at the entrance of Kuroyuri, some parts of it still burning. Masaki was told to do recon and call for backup if required, but she knew that if there was any survivors the Grimm would find them before backup arrived.

So, she did the next logical thing in her brain, She went into Kuroyuri by herself, with no backup or way to call for support. And she wondered where her son was starting to get a reckless nature from.

Making her way through the collapsed gate, she heard a screech that could've only come from a powerful Grimm, possibly even Hollow-Class. Hollow-Class Grimm were called that because the only feature they shared with their more common brethren was the white mask that covered their faces. The other difference naturally being the hole in their chest that they were named for. The most important fact that made humanity fear them though, was their sentience. Because unlike Grimm, who were primordial beasts attracted by negative emotions, Hollows were more intelligent and capable of speaking. But what made people fear them most, was their ability to eat people's souls to become stronger. Regular Grimm became stronger with age and experience, but Hollows didn't abide by that rule.

The scariest part though was when Hollows evolved; they would become towering creatures taller than some buildings – Gillians. The first stage of the Menos Grande class of Hollows. Gillians were big, but that's all they had, avoid the Ceros and aim for the mask. Although Gillians were kept under warning of do not engage for anyone except Academy graduated huntsmen. But they only got more powerful from there, eventually evolved into Adjuchas, a level of Grimm people like academy teachers or veteran Huntsman were only allowed to fight.

Then came the Vasto Lordes, of which only one had ever been seen in Masaki's entire lifetime, and it took Ozpin to kill. The fact alone that something that took the strength of someone on Ozpin's level to kill scared even Masaki.

But this wasn't the time to be remembering stories from the academy. The roar was faint, a few miles out by now, and that meant she had time to search for survivors. She had looked, occasionally running across an odd Beowulf, the Grimm had truly picked this town clean, but the blood was still there, and that wasn't good.

She was ready to give up when she heard faint crying from a canal near her that ran through the village, and when she went to look under it she found two children hiding there, a boy and a girl.

They both were around her son's age, which pulled at her heart to know that kids like these were present for what happened to this town.

The girl was crying had orange hair a shade lighter than Masaki's and crystal blue eyes; she was wearing tattered, dirty clothing and an old looking jacket that almost looked too small for her.

The boy, who looked emotionally and physically exhausted, turned to look at Masaki and shock covered his face, while Masaki took the chance to look at the boy. He had black hair pulled and held by a band, leaving a strand of magenta hair to fall down his face. His eyes were a shade of magenta lighter than his hair, but were still bloodshot and tired. He was wearing a green long sleeved shirt with purple shoulders and pink cuffs and a pair of plain trousers.

The contrast between their clothing was not lost on Masaki, but she had more important things to deal with, like leaving, now, with these children who were most likely the only survivors. She had to make as much distance between herself and this town before more Grimm showed up.

But they were still kids, and Masaki had a very soft spot for kids, so she spoke kindly "My name is Masaki Kurosaki, I'm a huntress, and I'm going to get you out of here."

The boy, who she really ought to have asked the name of, seemed to realise he wasn't dreaming when the girl also turned to look at her, but before he could say anything, another screech was heard, although not that of the Grimm that was miles away before.

Masaki turned and saw a large Griffon, a Grimm with black fur and feathers, bone like spines across its back and a pair of avian wings. The creature reared its head back before releasing another screech and charging towards Masaki, who hadn't registered the boy's hand come out and grab onto her larger one, with his other hand still holding the girl's.

And like that, the Grimm stopped, and looked around before screeching and taking off, leaving a very confused huntress and a child that had managed to manifest a semblance at such a young age.

"I – I figured out how to do this when they attacked." The boy spoke for the first time, shocking Masaki at how calm he sounded, and then she realised it must've been a semblance.

"You manifested a semblance when they attacked?" Masaki replied, the situation forgotten and the surprise that a child no older than her son must've manifested his aura and semblance simultaneously without outside help.

The boy seemed to freeze at the mention of the attack, enough for Masaki to know this would affect him for the rest of his life.

"We need to get out of here, I'll take you back to my village, it'll be a long walk, but you'll be safe there." Masaki changed the subject, snapping the boy out of his daze.

"Are you okay?" Masaki realised the girl hadn't spoken the entire time, and her only reaction to being addressed was to move slightly behind the boy, so Masaki chose to comfort her, enveloping both of the children into a hug.

"It's okay, it'll be okay, and I promise I will protect you." Masaki had experience losing loved ones, having no family herself except for Ichigo. She knew the solitude of being alone and didn't want kids as young as these to experience it.

"M- M- My name i- is Nora." The girl managed to stutter out, still terrified of what she had seen.

"Okay Nora, how about we get somewhere safe, and before I forget, what is your name young man?" She would probably forget too, she had been really distracted today.

"My name is Lie Ren." The boy managed to get out, before his eyes fluttered closed and he collapsed forward, only for Masaki to catch him.

Nora's reaction was fear, Ren was the first person to show her kindness and he saved her life, so she stuttered out in terror "Is – is he going to be alright?"

Her concern for him started to overpower the fear slightly, and Masaki looked over to her and smiled, calmly replying "He's out of aura, probably has been for a while, but he managed to keep his semblance up this long, so he'll probably be unconscious for a while. So Nora, are you coming with me to my home? I at least need to take Ren there to recover."

Nora's concern for her friend overpowered everything else, and she felt a level of gratitude she thought she would never feel again in her life for the woman in front of her, but her exhaustion was catching up, so she nodded and started walking, completely oblivious to Masaki still lagging behind, carrying Ren.

"Wait up at least, you have no idea where you're going!" Somehow Masaki knew this girl would grow up to be a handful, and hoped Ren could handle it.

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 **Well there is the longest chapter I've written so far, purely because it was written in two separate parts (Started in the morning and finished in the evening) and I'm not mean enough to split this into separate chapters.**

 **Loving all the reviews (One review who even guessed the part about Ren and Nora in Kuroyuri at least, I'm not saying anything about the rest of his review being correct) I'm loving the support this has gotten, as it keeps inspiring me to publish more :D Also (as of the time of this being written) the story has 15 reviews, 30 favourites and 55 follows! I did NOT expect this kind of support would go to a total noob at writing such as myself, but I love you guys for it and know that it keeps me writing more :D.**

 **This chapter I had originally considered being done in many different ways, either having it as a SHORTER chapter being only Masaki centric and having her find Ren and Nora and returning home, or having a regular sized chapter (in comparison to the first two) and also including them arriving back home. In the end I went with neither because like most of the first chapters, I'm setting things up and wanted to include things Masaki remembered, and actually giving Ichigo a childhood in Remnant, not just dropping him in and saying shit happened. So I figured with the views I'm giving him about the divide between human and faunus I would have him idolise the White Fang. Idolise because he's a kid and they're an organisation fighting for equal rights for people that Ichigo believes deserve them (Remember : The White Fang didn't start going terrorist until 5 years before canon, we're 7 years before canon so they're still a peaceful protest organisation. Also included the bit about Ichigo sticking up for others because it's Ichigo, and he's a protagonist with a trouble magnet somewhere on his person.**

 **Next chapters will be the return to the village and some character interactions, then probably skimming a few years.**

 **Hope to see you all then :D**


	4. Friends

**I don't own Bleach or RWBY. Still not sure I can even write a fight scene.**

* * *

 **Volume 0: Chapter 3: Friends**

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"You seriously don't think a sword that is also a rifle would be cool?"

"Nope, not for me at least" Ichigo rebuked against Xander.

"Oh yeah, forgot how _astounding_ your aim was, sharpshooter" Xander's grin widened when Ichigo started blushing and mumbling angry comments about 'not being warned about recoil' or 'stupid target was too far away'.

Xander would never forget the day Ichigo had been begging his mother to train him in some way, nor would he forget Ichigo's excited face when his mother said she would teach him how to use a firearm ' _Kid had spent so long asking for training he forgot he was asking to be trained to use a sword_ '. Nor would Xander forget when Ichigo managed to punch himself in the face with a pistol, repeatedly, after being told he could switch the weapon off of automatic, twice. He had also managed to completely fill the tree with bullets, somehow drawing a perfect circle _around_ the target with bullets.

Xander could totally understand Ichigo not wanting a weapon that required aiming. This particular discussion had started on the second afternoon after Masaki left, when Ichigo asked to borrow one of the shops swords to 'train'. Unfortunately for Ichigo, Masaki had put the fear of Oum into Xander the only time he ever let Ichigo use one of the weapons, Kid had some skill too, ' _no idea where he got it from_ ' although neither did Ichigo. But the discussion on wanting to train and the subsequent disappointed Ichigo got Xander talking on what kind of weapon Ichigo actually wanted to use.

' _Ever since his mother filled his head with all those stories as a kid, the carrot top is determined to go to Beacon_ ' And it was true, Masaki told Ichigo that if he wanted to become a great hero like in all the stories he loved he would have to go to Beacon, ' _Probably Beacon and not Haven because Masaki went to Beacon_ '. And of course any 'hero' would need a weapon.

The discussion had started with swords. Ichigo loved swords, or more specifically, the kid had a fascination with any sort of Katanas or swords like them, historical stuff, like one would see in a story about honourable Samurai and all that junk. Xander knew Ichigo wanted a Katana, but what he didn't know was that Xander already planned on making him one. Ever since the day they first met, Xander had faith in Ichigo, because, although the rest of the town referred to it as 'the staring contest to top all staring contests', Xander wanted to see what the kid was about, he was Masaki's kid after all.

So naturally, he did the thing that he knew would piss Ichigo off the most, he stopped the kid from getting the gear ordered by his mother, and as expected, Ichigo wasn't satisfied with that. So the kid stood in the doorway and glared, to the point that Xander walked up to him, still holding the glare.

Xander could see the kid's determination, and knew it would take him somewhere, that was for Ichigo to decide. Probably why he kept that old Katana hilt he found on the outskirts of the village around the time Ichigo was born. It was an old thing, the hilt had a red wrapping and two light blue tassels attached to the handle's base, which was decorated with a flame design on its short sides. Frankly it still confused Xander why someone would leave it there, but there it was, a perfectly good component for a weapon, but he decided the thing was in good enough condition to not be scrapped, so he kept it to forge into the right weapon.

And then he met Ichigo, and his decision was made. When it came time for Ichigo to leave, Xander would forge him the best sword possible. ' _Maybe a sign of fate or some crap like that because I found it the day he was born_ '.

Either way, after a discussion on swords again, with Ichigo _once again_ stating that he would wield a katana, Xander brought up the idea of ranged weaponry. Xander was no fool, Ichigo wanted a katana, but what's better than one weapon?

Two of course.

And that brought him to now…

"What about a grenade launcher?"

"Too bulky, wouldn't work in conjunction with a sword" Came the automatic reply.

"Rocket launcher"

Ichigo just looked at him, like he had grown a second head. "If a grenade launcher wouldn't work, why would a _rocket_ launcher?"

"Pistol"

"I can't aim, dumbass"

"You want me to tell Masaki I caught you swearing, _again_?"

That statement made Ichigo turn a ghostly pale. Let it be stated that an enraged Masaki could scare whatever you aimed her at.

"I'm kidding, brat. I wouldn't wish that kind of fate on anyone" After all, who could sympathise better with a kid who got caught swearing by his scary-ass mother than the guy who _taught_ him the swear words in the first place.

"I think I might just have to forego using any sort of ranged weapons" Ichigo commented, his mind already back to the weapons catalogue.

Xander thought about it, and pretty much just imagined himself being killed by Masaki in many painful ways because her son thought it was a good idea to try and fight a Nevermore with a sword. So, he made a last ditch effort, by offering the one gun that always worked to make someone feel like a total badass, as long as distance wasn't involved, also solving the issue of him wanting a weapon that would work in conjunction with a sword.

"What about a shotgun?" Ichigo's head instantly turned towards Xander at the comment ' _Hook_ '.

"It'd work in close quarters, or even to earn you a little space" ' _Line_ '

Xander then started doodling in the catalogue, ' _put a mechanism here, now that could work, keep the Grimm in close and boom!_ ' Needless to say, Ichigo would've expected Xander's weapon savvy brain to come up with something, but a detailed drawing on top of a shotgun in the weapons catalogue wasn't expected.

It wasn't expected and Ichigo wasn't disappointed.

A shotgun. _With a sword attached to it!_

Ichigo had ended up staying with Xander a few times over the course of his Mother's missions, and in that time he did once consider seeing if Xander would teach him to become a blacksmith, but Ichigo wanted to be a hero, like in the books, so the idea was forgotten over time. Xander _had_ taught him some stuff to do with weapons though, and with all the stuff he had learned he would have to be an idiot not to recognize a mechanism doodled onto the shotgun, under the barrel. He would also have to be an idiot to not understand that it would work well as a weapon, but before he could continue looking, Xander voiced Ichigo's thoughts for him.

"Pin 'em and kill 'em. Sword mechanism used to stab, already in close to blow 'em away with the shottie. You like?" You could hear the smugness of over a year's worth of attempts at convincing Ichigo to use _some_ sort of ranged weapon finally paying off 'And _sinker!_ ' With the option he really should've tried first. ' _Seriously, who doesn't like shotguns?'_ he facepalmed at the thought that it would've been so easy if he had remembered that philosophy when he started this little game of '200 questions to figure out a weapon for a stubborn kid who wanted a Katana'.

It was at that point Xander decided to call it a day, closing up shop before eating dinner and sending Ichigo to bed, Xander would stay up another hour, ' _If the kid finally chose, I'd better start planning the weapons before he changes his mind_ '.

* * *

 **A week later**

* * *

It had been a few days since Masaki had returned, two unknown children in tow, one of whom was _still_ unconscious.

That was one of the things that bugged Ichigo. The second could've been many things, his mother's on the spot decision to give them a place to stay not even considered in his mind. First on his list would be Xander not letting Ichigo in the workshop in his shop. It was really just a place Ichigo liked to go to think, and admire Xander's work in progress creations. The thing that bugged him though was one thing, and that thing was Nora.

Ichigo had only ever seen her do a few things.

She would always stick by Lie's bed, never leaving. That didn't as much bug Ichigo, he saw it as loyalty to a precious person.

She would often curl up and cry, an event in which would end with Masaki trying to comfort her. Neither Masaki nor Ichigo had expected to find out that she was an orphan in Kuroyuri even before the Grimm came.

Not that Ichigo had heard it from Nora, Masaki told him.

THAT was what bugged him. Four days. FOUR DAYS. Nora hadn't spoken a word to him! He just didn't understand it.

He had tried to talk, only for her to not really listen and walk away.

So, the next time he heard her crying, he went to talk to her.

Naturally when the door opened to the room she stayed in, literally being, the room she stayed in, all the time, she must've been expecting Masaki and not Ichigo.

"Sorry, Ka-chan's out right now, but I'm here to talk if you need it"

No response.

"I didn't really get you when you came here, but I guess trying to put myself in your shoes was the best I could do, and I don't think I'd want to talk much either when I've lost my home and my only friend had been asleep for days."

It came out as a mumble first, but with Ichigo's deadpanned face, she talked louder.

"I didn't even know him."

That came as a shocker to Ichigo, who thought about it that way and realised what she was thinking.

"You don't know why he helped you, and he's not awake to tell you."

"I had seen him, in the village, earlier that day." Her face darkened "Some kids were being mean to me, I just wanted some food, I didn't care where it came from, and they were mean to me for it, and behind them, I saw him, watching, then I ran off"

"You want to know why someone who didn't do anything when you were bullied decided to save your life." Ichigo assumed, realising the girl's silence was because she was afraid. Afraid of everything, and wondering why it was her that was still alive and not some other kid.

Let it be stated that Kurosaki Ichigo could understand people, let it be known that he would be the first to try and help someone if they were in danger in front of him.

Let it also be known he wasn't good at being gentle with people.

A fact Nora didn't know when she was suddenly bopped over the head by an irate looking Ichigo.

"Idiot" Ichigo jabbed. But before Nora could look saddened by the fact that this boy had decided to be mean to her too, he continued "If he saved you, why question it, just live, because if you don't and you question why you still live you're making his choice to save you a total waste, so live, and repay him for saving you" That shocked Nora.

She had spent the last few days questioning why she was saved that she didn't stop to appreciate the fact that she was even alive now. Because of Ren. She fished a small wooden hammer out of her pocket, confusing Ichigo.

"He got me to be brave" She looked over to the still unconscious boy "and I'll owe him forever for it"

"Thank you …" Nora at least made a point of looking embarrassed at not knowing the name of the son of the woman that saved her.

"It's Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki, so if we're going with an actual introduction, then what's your name?"

"Nora, Nora Valkyrie"

That was a day Nora would always remember, as the day she realised how much she owed Ren, and found a friend in Ichigo, who didn't like seeing others sad. And sad was something Nora wasn't, she grinned to herself, knowing that the first thing she would do when he woke up was go and thank Ren, for saving her.

"Huh, so you can smile" Ichigo jabbed at her sarcastically.

"Yup" another thing Ichigo realised about Nora that day, she didn't seem to understand sarcasm.

But Ichigo had managed to accomplish his goal, finally understanding and befriending the orphan from Kuroyuri and that only left 'sleeping beauty' as Ichigo had dubbed him when joking with Xander, to befriend when he woke up. Ichigo knew the experience they had been through would affect them, so he wanted to be their friends, because he wanted to help them.

And then, Ichigo remembered, he had completely forgotten to grill out Xander on why he wasn't allowed in the workshop. ' _Plans for tomorrow, I guess_ ' he thought to himself.

* * *

 **20 Reviews, 38 Favourites and 65 Follows. In Three days. On a story posted by a Fanfiction noob. This being that noob's FIRST story. I'm in shock, awe and probably a bunch of other descriptive words I can't think of on the spot.**

 **Thank you all for even considering sticking around for this long, and I hope you do for the long run :)**

 **I had originally planned for this chapter to be segmented into two, with the part with Ichigo befriending Nora first and having him befriend Ren in the second half. But then I decided to kinda have a bit about what Ichigo was doing while Masaki was gone, and then that segment managed to take up half a chapter, so I decided to save Ren for the next one :D**

 **I thought the first part of this chapter would be a funny concept, because even in Bleach, Ichigo is never required to do anything that requires aiming. Getsuga's don't count and Ceros go in a straight line. I say Getsuga's don't count because in Shikai he just makes huge blasts in a 'go big or go home' style (Or as I call it 'if at first you miss, pump more Reiatsu in') and in Bankai he's fast enough to get in close (or use the same 'go big or go home' style when he's wearing his hollow mask).**

 **I also decided to make some funny moments between Ichigo and Xander there, and also put out a blatant hint for the future, so obvious I wouldn't call it foreshadowing.**

 **Also, it could've been expected that both Ren and Nora will be OOC because they both just got out of a traumatising experience, and we don't know if they left Kuroyuri by themselves or were rescued in the actual anime, so I used that to create the point of them having been hiding for days, with Ren making use of his semblance when needed, to the point of exhausting his aura and leaving him unconscious.**

 **I like the way I portrayed Nora in this, because realistically, she would've felt gratitude to Ren but she was still a homeless orphan, so it would be natural to question why she survived.**

 **Anyway, reviews would be appreciated, not gonna ask for the other two, those are for you to do if you believe this is actually worth reading.**

 **See ya next time :D**


	5. Brother

**I don't own Bleach or RWBY. If I did, we would've seen what Ichigo's new bankai was capable of. Other than surviving for a single frame, of course.**

* * *

 **Volume 0: Chapter 4: Brother**

* * *

He dreamed.

He dreamt of the happy days of his childhood, with his mother and father. He had dreamed of all the times he had walked around the village with his mother, never once growing tired of the scenery the beautiful village created.

He dreamt of his father, of the lessons his father gave him, in being brave. His father had always promised to train his son to be a hunter when he came of age. He adored his parents, his mother, ever thoughtful for him, and his father… His father-

"Sometimes the worst action is no action at all" His father's voice echoed through his head, and his mind was jolted to a scene that he felt like he knew.

A girl, light orange hair and crystal blue eyes, old clothes and a heart on the shirt covered in dirt.

Then other boys in the village came, insulting and berating her, and trying to steal from her.

And he did nothing, and then his father appeared, demanding to know what was going on, and the bullies scattered.

He would never forget those words his father said to him, after the girl had ran off, his father gave him that lesson.

And then that night, his nightmare began.

He started screaming, he wanted it to stop, he didn't want to see what was going to happen, the building collapsing on his mother, his father sacrificing himself so that he could live.

So he hid. Trying to calm himself, fear was overpowering, but his father told him to be brave. And something just clicked, and his fear vanished. And then he saw the girl again, and he remembered his father's words. His inaction earlier meant that girl had no one to defend her, and she was an orphan, so she had no one to look after her. And his decision was made, and he ran to her, comforting her and somehow, the nightmares didn't find them. So he promised her that they would look after each other.

They had hoped rescue would come by morning, but it didn't. They had to keep moving, for days. With the boy pushing himself past his limits, beyond exhaustion, but still going. He had to be brave. His father had always taught him that the brave were the strong, and the strong protected those who were afraid.

Three days later, when his energy was finally leaving him and the girl was beginning to believe that rescue wasn't coming, the woman came. She had asked questions, but the boy had finally reached his limit, collapsing.

The nightmares waited for him. Always replaying, over and over, the 'what if's' not lost on his young mind. He had barely survived. And when the nightmares had stopped and all was peaceful, _**it**_ came for him. And Ren bolted up with a yell.

He looked around the room, a small bedroom fitting a style that definitely didn't belong to Kuroyuri, so he began to wonder how long he had been asleep, praying that it was just a nightmare. Maybe his parents had to go away so they left him in another village, yeah, that was it.

His denial only lasted until a pair of arms wrapped him in a tight hug, and he realised that the limbs that held him as if he was about to disappear belonged to the same girl, that was in his village, that was in his nightmare. Nora was crying into his shirt, happy he was finally awake.

Ren could just make out the muffled speech from her –

"Thank you, for saving me. I promise I'll pay you back, one day" She spoke as she removed herself from him, making him realise she was a lot cleaner than when he last saw her.

Before he could reply, the door opened, revealing the woman that appeared at the end of the nightmare, the one who saved them.

"So you're finally awake, you've been unconscious for just over a week, are you feeling alright?" The woman asked in a gentle tone, one that could only be identified as genuine concern and worry.

"I'm alright, where are my parents? What happened?" Ren hastily replied, still not believing the nightmares.

"I'm so sorry, the village of Kuroyuri was attacked by Grimm, I was ordered to check when the village hadn't responded to any messages for a couple of days, and you two were the only survivors I found" Masaki's concern had edged away to a sombre tone, disappointed with herself, and the slow responses of the system the villages kept, meaning that she wasn't sent to investigate sooner. If she had, perhaps there would've been more survivors, the only two confirmed being the children in front of her, no word of any people that managed to escape, but there was still hope.

Ren… couldn't respond. The nightmare was real, his mother… his father… his home. Gone, all of it. And just like that, the flood gates broke and Ren started crying, unable to stand losing all of that. It meant Nora was the only thing he had left, except for… "Where.. – Where is my father's.." That was all it took for the tears to overtake him, and Nora's grip on him to strengthen, he hadn't even noticed when she started hugging him again.

His stuttered words seemed to be enough for Masaki though, as she left and returned a moment later with his father's dagger. "Th – thank you" He choked out, returning Nora's hug in full force.

"It's okay now" Masaki said, sitting herself on the end of the bed, putting her hand over Ren's "It'll be okay from now on, I promise"

* * *

Things seemed to have gotten clearer from then, with Nora and Ichigo being stable friends, talking when possible, with Nora always asking questions. The girl seemed to have an energy to her that wasn't present at first, but with Masaki taking her in, it seemed like she had regained life itself, no longer being a silent, empty shell, and with life, came an energy that made Ichigo wonder how she could keep that many questions in her head, let alone letting them spill out of her mouth all at once.

Ren, however, was another story. Ichigo was able to understand Nora, learning her story and figuring her out. Ren wasn't so easy. That and Ichigo didn't get why everyone called him by his last name, but he guessed it worked.

But Ichigo knew Ren had been through something awful, and talking about it worked with Nora, so, he went with that approach, finding Ren when Masaki had dragged Nora off to find her some new, at least less tattered, clothing.

When Ichigo found Ren, the boy was sitting on the doorstep, watching the afternoon sun gain it's orange glow, signalling nightfall, along with the return of Masaki and Nora, would be soon.

"Nice view, isn't it?" Ichigo knew that was a lame way to start a conversation, but a house on a hill did offer a brilliant view over the village and forest illuminated by the orange glow.

Ren, for his part, didn't acknowledge Ichigo's presence, too lost in his own terrifying memories.

Ichigo knew that Ren had lost a lot, and knew to give him space, so he just talked, and waited for any response that may come. He talked about his life, how he befriended Xander, and how he felt about the other children bullying the faunus. That at least, seemed to get a response out of Ren, after hearing Ichigo's story about when he would let the older kids beat him up instead of the faunus.

"You're brave" Was Ren's simple reply.

"Huh? Never really cared to think of it that way" Ichigo responded, not getting what bravery had to do with it.

"My father always told me that those who were stronger were that way because they were brave, and that the duty of the brave was to protect those weaker than them" It was the first time Ren had managed to talk about his father without letting his grief take over.

"hn. Nah, not me" Was Ichigo's response.

"What?" Now that confused Ren. Ichigo spoke of defending those weaker than him, which made him think of his father's words about the brave.

"I don't think I'm brave at all. Until I turned 8 whenever something bad happened I would always cry and wait for Ka-chan. She's all I've ever had, before I became friends with Xander, I didn't stick around other kids my age, I always just stuck to myself."

"What about your father?" Ren had always had his father to talk to, but Ichigo didn't mention his once.

"I never met him. No idea what happened but he wasn't around when I was born and never has been since. So it never really mattered to me."

"If you say you aren't brave, then why do you stick up for the other children?" It genuinely confused Ren that someone denied being brave, but stood up for those that were weak.

"It's in my name. In an old Mistrali language, my name translates to He-Who-Protects or Number One Protector. I don't think I'm brave, but if somebody needs help in front of me there's no way I'm just going to let them do it alone" Ichigo's determined voice when he said those words startled Ren, because this boy, who denied being brave or strong, would stick himself out for a stranger just because he was there.

"I never thought about it that way, but it doesn't change anything. People die, and there's no way to stop it" Ren's voice had gone from surprised to full-on depressed in the space of a few seconds, and Ichigo realised that it was going to be a repeat of the Nora incident all over again. So he reared back a fist and planted it in Ren's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Ren cried out in shock.

"For being an idiot. The other day when Nora was being depressed it was because she didn't know why you saved _her_. She didn't think she was worth saving and she was so busy wondering why she was alive that she wasn't happy she survived. I got her to realise that living isn't just about her now, it's about repaying your bravery in saving her _by_ living. You lost people precious to you, so you get stronger, and make sure it never happens again." Ichigo didn't know where the words were coming from, but he was on a streak and he was going to get it through this kid's head that he was being an idiot, so the words came. "You could only protect one person, and you blame yourself that others still died, but you didn't let Nora die, rescue didn't come for three days and you could only keep them away for that long _barely_ just saving yourself and Nora. And you're scared it will happen again, that you'll be forced against a wall with a decision of who to save, the answer is easy, get strong enough to protect everyone, abandon your fear, move forward. And never stop" The words seemed to ring something throughout Ichigo but he couldn't remember where he had learned them, but he'd be damned if Ren kept acting like things could've gone different.

At some point during his speech Ren had started crying, so Ichigo pulled the (probably) younger boy into a hug, letting him cry it out like Masaki had always done with him. And Ren realised everything that Ichigo said was true, and that tears wouldn't change anything, and Ren realised that even though they were brought to his house and the only real interaction Ren had with Ichigo was now, he saw how much Ichigo acted like an older brother to him, probably without realising, and then Ren asked him a question.

"What do you want to do, when you get older?" Ren wanted to know, because somehow within the space of a conversation Ichigo had gained the respect and friendship of the boy, and Ren wanted to follow Ichigo, to become stronger.

"I'm gonna go to Beacon and become a huntsman, so I can protect everyone" Came the automatic reply. Ichigo got asked that a lot, being Masaki's kid and with Ichigo's unique behaviour and personality it was questionable what he would do.

"Then I'll go with you" Was Ren's reply, he wanted to get stronger with Ichigo, because Ichigo had made him realise that if Ren wanted to make sure what happened to him never repeated, and that he could protect Nora, he would have to get stronger.

"Don't forget about me!" Came the energetic reply as Nora popped up between them, because they were both far too distracted to notice her presence, or Masaki watching them proudly from across the room.

"What were we talking about again?" Was the next point Nora raised, and somehow both Ichigo and Ren knew to sweatdrop as they both shared a thought ' _She's not going to get easier to deal with as she gets older, is she?_ '

Masaki could only watch from behind the counter, as the two kids she rescued from Kuroyuri talked on with her son, and she realised that Ichigo had started acting like an older brother to Ren, probably without either of them noticing, while Nora bobbed up and down, releasing pent up questions that appeared in her mind. If one thing was for certain, she knew her son wouldn't be without friends in his life. That, and Nora should never be trusted with sugar or coffee. That would be traumatising for all involved.

* * *

 **26 Reviews. 45 Favourites. 78 Follows. Jeez. This got way more support than I ever thought it would.**

 **Well there is Chapter 4 for all you good people :D**

 **Still loving all the positive response the story is receiving and I hope you stick around for more, because the continued support continues to inspire me to write more. I had originally started this story out of a sense of boredom earlier this week, and never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be as liked as it has. What I'm trying to say is, I love all of you guys and gals out there for giving me the inspiration to try something new, and I hope I don't disappoint.**

 **This chapter, I decided to start out with a dream sequence, purely because Ren had been unconscious for so long it could make for a good character scene. After awakening I had him in denial about the events of Kuroyuri, because although my writing doesn't portray it very well for any of them, Ren, Nora and Ichigo are all only 10 / nearly 11. After that I chose to make the chapter purely an interaction between Ichigo and Ren, with the ideals Ren had been taught by his father about bravery (and a bit I added onto it) against Ichigo, who didn't care if he was strong enough to fight or not, he wouldn't leave someone on their own if he could help. Also had a bit of overcast with Ichigo mirroring his previous incarnation through words he had never heard and lessons he had never learned. Sorry if it seemed a bit forced that I'm trying to make it seem like Ichigo will be acting like an older brother to Ren, but it was a concept I liked that I'm not sure how well it was executed.**

 **Also, with the portrayal of Ren, being inspired by Ichigo, much like he had inspired people like Chad or Renji, people that by the end of Bleach were willing to follow him to the depths of hell without being asked to help. I also used that as a point to give Ren and subsequently Nora, the idea to train and go to Beacon to become hunters (because in the actual anime, though I have no doubt it may be explained in the future, we have no idea why they ended up at Beacon).**

 **And then I decided to end it all off with a bit of humor. With Nora no longer being an Orphan and actually having people who care for her and look after her, it gives her a chance to grow as a character, gaining an energy she didn't have before and, as I put it, gaining life.**

 **Well, Thanks for sticking around so far and I hope to see you all next time :D**


	6. Training

**I don't own Bleach or RWBY. But if I did, Pyrrha would probably still die. Because I'm an evil sunovabitch.**

* * *

 **Volume 0: Chapter 5: Training**

* * *

It had been 3 years since Masaki had returned to Kabukicho with Ren and Nora in tow, and if asked, most people in the village would think the kids had been there all along. That was either a nod to how well the two had integrated into life in the village, or people just really didn't pay attention to things.

The two had taken to doing much the same things Ichigo would since his childhood, helping out where they could, or just having fun with each other. ' _Figures he would make no effort to make friends with the other kids but when I bring those two to our house he befriends them quickly, makes me wonder how he understood them when his only interactions with kids his age are mostly beating up the more racist kids_ ' But of course, that train of thought brought up another topic for thought that Masaki wouldn't forget. Almost two years before, the White Fang had taken a turn for the worse.

At first it was thought that there was a rogue element to the once peaceful organisation, Ichigo had surely hoped so, because he still looked up to them, being the ones fighting for their rights, which Ichigo would wholly agree they deserved, because they had never done anything to deserve not having rights in the first place.

But peaceful boycotts had turned into attacking shops that didn't serve them. There were attacks at rallies. And it had gotten so far that there was no way that it would be seen as a rogue element. So the White Fang was rebranded as a terrorist organisation, and it crushed Ichigo. When asked, he would tell her that the moment they started the violence, they were revoking the rights they had fought so hard for, and more than that, they were revoking the rights for every other Faunus in existence. And nobody wanted to know what happened when it would inevitably get too far.

Apart from the changes in the White Fang,What had changed in the almost two years were the three kids Masaki cared for. Because they had grown up.

Ichigo had started smiling a bit less, and started scowling more when the White Fang had turned violent, but he still smiled more than scowled, so that was good. It was about a year before that he had gotten the other two behind him to convince Masaki to start teaching them, if they were ever to become huntsmen.

Of course, the other two had changed as well. There wasn't much time when Nora wasn't smiling, or grinning. And the 'serious case of word vomit' as Ichigo had once described it, had gotten _worse_ with age. To the point Ichigo would generally end up bopping her over the head and telling her to slow down, to which the girl would pout and tell him he was no fun. And there was even less chance now than there was two years ago that the girl could be trusted with caffeine.

And then there was the _sane_ one. Ren had gotten a bit quieter around other people, except for Masaki and the other two. The boy had a way of dealing with Nora that baffled Ichigo and Masaki, but it worked. He was the one person that could _effectively_ stop Nora, or delay her at least. Masaki had found that out a few months earlier, when she had been convinced, by the kids and Xander (who was tired cf being bugged by Ichigo who _still_ wasn't allowed in the workshop, for reasons only Xander knew) collectively. Don't get her wrong, Masaki fully intended to train the kids, whom she had given lessons that the lower academies offered when kids around the age of 13 started there. She had taught them what she could, in general knowledge about Grimm, Aura & Semblances, and the part that bored Nora, interested Ichigo and kept Ren impassive. The subject being History. She would say it interested Ichigo had he not already looked through the history books at first opportunity, reading up on events like the Faunus war.

His thoughts were interrupted by Masaki's arrival, and Ichigo went back to what he had been trying to do before his mind wandered back to the history books.

"Ka-chan, please?" Ichigo pleaded, he had lost count how many times he had done so in the past day, or week, or month.

"Honestly Ichigo, I'll give you points for your determination, but if you and the others want to be trained you're going to have to do it my way, and follow my rules. Deal?" It was true; Ichigo had spent the last month or so trying to convince Masaki to train them. No matter how many times Masaki said no, they still kept asking, determined to learn. Masaki's was so lost in thought she hadn't noticed Nora and Ren appear or Ichigo's grinning face, which made her smile.

"We'll train tomorrow, but for now, go get the table ready for dinner" Masaki said, changing the topic and leaving the promise of tomorrow to brighten up the teenager's smiles.

* * *

 **Training ground (Ichigo's back garden): Next Day**

* * *

"What?! What do you mean we aren't using weapons?" Cried out a disappointed Ichigo, realising he'd once again been duped, the first time of course being when he realised he couldn't aim for shit.

"Sorry Ichigo, but you aren't going to learn to use a weapon until you learn to fight." Masaki replied, fully knowing her son wouldn't be happy about it, but he needed to learn an important lesson, one had better stay with him the rest of his life. And if he could repeatedly punch himself in the face with the recoil on a gun then Masaki feared what he would do with a sword.

"Come on already, how are we training?!" Shouted out an excited Nora, making Masaki sweatdrop, wondering if she wasn't taking it seriously enough, or was taking it _too_ seriously, because you could never be sure with Nora.

Masaki sent a glance in Ren's direction, as if silently asking if he was also ready, to which the stoic boy nodded. Masaki hadn't trained Ren over the past few years _per se_ , but she had given him the resources to train his own aura, with it strengthening his semblance, which Masaki knew she was under no illusions about it being the reason the boy was so calm now.

"Okay, you have all day to knock this hat off my head" She stated calmly, pulling out, a _ridiculous_ green and white striped bucket hat. "Don't hold back or you'll lose. You have until the end of the day, and if you don't knock it off I won't train you" She continued speaking, ignoring Ichigo's pointed stare at the hat, and then when her words registered to him he was shocked.

"But you said you'd train us!" Ichigo shouted, feeling like the knowledge would've been appreciated before the start of this, and for some reason _really_ wanting to destroy that hat.

"If you want to train, then show me you can do this" Masaki replied, having known Ichigo's reaction would be something like this. She was trying to make him realise something.

"Well then, let's begin!" She said, making the teens move back, tensions thick.

Ichigo charged first, reckless as ever, trying to knock the hat off, only for Masaki to step backwards and shove him into the dirt. He needed to think before fighting. Masaki didn't notice Ren running in close, hand coated in Aura, ready to strike, but her reflexes kicked in to avoid the strike, leaving the boy standing where she once was, shocked at her speed and leaving himself completely open. He went down next, a struck to the stomach would wind a normal person, but Ren engaged his Aura, surprising Masaki, until the boy spoke.

"You told us not to hold back!" He spoke, before Masaki was hit in the back, having forgotten about Nora. She launched her fist back, knocking Nora to the side, before grabbing Ren's arm that had risen to strike and throwing him over her arm.

"You're going to have to do better than that" She spoke before moving her head slightly back, avoiding the punch of a _very_ pissed looking Ichigo. ' _At least he's not holding back for fear of hurting me, underestimation of an enemy is probably one of the most fatal errors someone can make_ ' She thought as she stepped back, avoiding the follow up punch, grabbing his arm and pushing him back, stopping the advance of Ren and Nora, who had recovered to start advancing again.

' _This is going to be a long day, isn't it? My son is as foolish as I was_ ' Masaki reminded herself, remembering she was as reckless as he was, and that was why she was doing this lesson, the kids could attack in sync, but they weren't working together as a team, they were just taking openings made by the others. If she kept being rough with them they might learn, or she wouldn't train them at all.

* * *

 **5:43, 17 minutes until Failure**

* * *

Ichigo didn't understand it at all, he had been trying to understand what he was being trained in all day, and it had taken him this long to realise what he was missing. He really was an idiot. The fighting had scattered into the trees, with Masaki separating them. If she kept them separated then failure was inevitable, and he needed the others for this to work.

He heard rustling from a bush behind him, having hidden to think about this 'lesson'. The figure that walked through the bush was Nora, looking worse for wear. So when she walked past the bush he was hiding in, Ichigo did the logical thing, he grabbed her ankle and got kicked in the face.

"Ow, son of a -!" Was the cry a startled Nora heard after reacting to something grabbing her leg.

"Ichigo?" Was her only question, receiving a pained 'yes' from the bush.

"Nora we need to find Ren, we need to work together to do this, you in?" Ichigo questioned, choosing to ignore his probably bruised nose.

"What's your plan?" Nora questioned, don't get her wrong, she trusted Ichigo, but when Ichigo once had a plan that involved a bully and a move only used in preschool to push kids over, she could be sceptical, moreso when it actually _worked_. Serves the bully right for thinking that after all the kids Ichigo had beaten up for racism that he would get off with it.

"We need to find Ren, then I'll explain" Ichigo stated quickly, before ducking back into the bush at sounds of movement. Neither of them expected Ren to get sent flying through, looking like his aura was finally failing, so with a silent nod of agreement, Nora grabbed Ren's arm and dragged him into the bush and Ichigo clamped a hand over his mouth before he could call out in surprise, and then got punched in the face because Nora hadn't grabbed the other arm.

"I swear I am starting to think there is a plot between you two to kill me" Ichigo deadpanned, holding his once again injured nose. That statement got a snicker out of Nora at least, and a smile out of Ren at realising who had grabbed him.

"I've got a plan" Was Ichigo's statement, before he started to explain his idea about what the lesson was really about…

* * *

 **5:54, 6 minutes until Failure**

* * *

Masaki had thought that her son would've figured it out, or the others would've, but none of them had gotten the point. She had realised she would need some other way to teach them, seeing as they hadn't learned the lesson.

Her brainstorming was cut short when once again, Ren emerged from the trees. Ren was the one who had attempted to beat her single headedly the most, probably because he was the only one with an active Aura. Masaki didn't need words, she wasn't the type to try and discourage them through taunting or jeering, she just hoped that they had learned. Ren had failed to get the hat on every other attempt. This would be no different.

Except he didn't charge, he stood there, eyes closed, unmoving. Masaki thought this was some way of trying to win by letting her make the first move, or that he was going to ask they not be failed, but he stood there. So Masaki made the first move, dashing forward and launching a kick towards his head. She was sure that Ren didn't raise his arm until the last possible moment, but he blocked the kick, holding strong. Masaki thought that he was distracted enough holding his aura up that he wouldn't expect it when she brought her leg back and threw a punch towards his face.

The punch didn't meet his face though, veering off because something had slammed into her from behind, the something in that statement being Nora and Ichigo, trying to force her down while Ren used the last of his Aura to punch her in the gut, much like she had to him at the start of the day. The delay in her reaction time mixed with her own surprise was the break Ichigo needed, yanking the hat from her head.

"So I guess we passed" And just like that Ichigo was grinning like an idiot, with Nora joining him while supporting a _very_ exhausted Ren.

"That depends, passing the lesson would mean knowing what the lesson was in the first case" Masaki replied, even though she already knew he knew the answer.

"Teamwork, there was no way any of us individually could catch you off guard long enough to swipe the hat, when I realised that I tried to figure out a plan, and I'm seriously surprised that actually worked" Ichigo replied, still smiling. Until Nora completely killed any statements that would follow with the question of –

"IF YOU DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD WORK THEN WHY DID YOU TRY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?" Nora was joking, really, but the humour was all it took to lighten the situation, until Ichigo raised a question.

"So what time did we finish with?"

Masaki looked down at her watch, the time revealed to be 5:59, and she replied "A good enough one, we'll talk about training tomorrow" That was enough to cause celebration among the teens as the day came to an end.

* * *

 **35 Reviews. 61 Favourites. 99 Follows. I love you guys for all the support this has been given, and stick around because we're getting closer than ever to the actual start of canon (although I'm not sure about how many chapters until then).**

 **So this chapter was meant to cover a timeskip in which the White Fang turned violent, so I could cover Ichigo's thoughts on that because he looked up to them as a group that fought for rights they deserved without violence. I took the time to give Ichigo's opinion on some of that back story.**

 **Then came the test, which I originally intended to be this entire chapter, which I thought would make it a smaller chapter. But every time I make a new chapter like this I think they'll be shorter, but they still end up longer than the chapters before them XD. At least it shows I'm getting better at putting more content in.**

 **The test was inspired both by Urahara's training with Ichigo and a bit of the 'Bell Test' From Naruto. Don't judge. Honestly the point of a test to make someone understand teamwork was something a character like Ichigo needs, because he never fought on a team, in fact I can't recall a single event in Bleach where Ichigo fought alongside someone and actually co-ordinated with them. I hope you like the way I did this chapter because I had fun writing it.**

 **Reviews :**

 **Smol Birb: Thank you for supporting the story, hope you stick around for more. As for your question on Restoring Ichigo's memories… I'm not telling.**

 **Hevenlydemonknight & Guest: Thanks for supporting the story **

**Kestes: Nice to see you reviewing here again, It's nice to see I didn't make the brotherly Ichigo thing badly.**

 **Thank you all for reading and I hope you take the time to review the story, I love getting input on others on my work and think it'll help me better myself as a writer.**

 **See ya next time :D**

 **EDIT: LATER THE SAME DAY.**

 **So after a not so nice but honestly needed comment from Anontbhfam I kinda realized in this chapter originally I had gone too much into explaining lore about Faunus and shit essentially just saying that shit annoyed Ichigo. And it was dumb and stupid, because I originally took the comment as hate but realized it was true and that part of the chapter was unnecessary and dumb (I really think I was just trying to fill space with lore). So I removed most of that part, purely because looking back at it, it annoyed me too and shows what happens when an author forgets to proofread.**

 **Sorry if you've showed up because you thought it was a new chapter. That isn't coming out just yet because I haven't started writing it yet.**


	7. The Beginning Of The Beginning

**I still don't own Bleach or RWBY. You guys should have it drilled into your minds to skip the first line by now anyway.**

* * *

 **Volume 0: Finale: The Beginning Of The Beginning**

* * *

The grindstone roared.

"Huh, weird thinking it's your last few days, isn't it?" Xander commented over the roaring and sparks, his voice muffled by the mask he wore to protect his eyes.

"Yeah, but I swear if Ka-chan gets any more worrying I'm gonna have to leave in the night, just so she stops" Groaned out a 17 year old Ichigo as he watched his oldest friend finish up the maintenance on his gear.

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah, THAT bad, she's never gonna cease to mention that we still don't know why my Aura can't be unlocked"

That was definitely one issue, when Masaki had tried to unlock her son's Aura, _something_ repelled against her, stopping her from doing it. Masaki was an Aura expert and yet she had no explanations as to why it was happening, so she hoped that while Ichigo was at Beacon she could contact Ozpin about it, was what she had told Ichigo.

"Maybe idly brushing her off acting as if training to fight against creatures of darkness and protect the world as if it's nothing isn't the best approach to reassuring her" Came the collected response from Ren, which got him a dry look from Xander and a quizzical one from Ichigo.

"Always gotta be the calm and collected one, ain't ya?" Was Ichigo's response. He wasn't actually annoyed, if anything he relied on Ren to help him keep a level head, if Ren wasn't around Ichigo might have not survived training with Masaki (Loving mother or not, that woman was a sadistic teacher, and she made sure her students knew it).

"Well that's Ren for ya, anyone know where we can get pancakes?" That made Ichigo facepalm. Let it be stated that while Nora was fun, funny and an all-around kind person, her obsession with pancakes ever since Masaki had taught Ren how to cook them was known and _feared_. That girl was terrifying when she really wanted pancakes. Nora on caffeine level terrifying.

His qualms about his friends aside, there was no one else he'd rather have by his side doing this, going to a school that trained warriors, that trained his mother, and that would train them to protect people.

" **Always got so much faith in ya friends, doncha?** " A double toned voice rang out in his head.

' _Always gotta pop up, scare the shit outta me and disappear without a word, doncha?_ ' was the sarcastic reply he thought of.

The voice had been there ever since around the time Masaki had tried to unlock his Aura, but he thought it best not to tell others. Well let's face it, how do you not sound crazy when you say you have a creepy-as-fuck voice in your head that pops up to make random comments and disappears.

"Well, I'm moving onto the armour next, but the tweaks to Midnight should make it combat ready" Xander interrupted the thoughts on the unknown –' _and unwanted_ '-" **Hey!** " voice.

Xander passed Midnight over to him and he looked his weapon over. It was a standard tactical shotgun, although the ammo could, and would, be switched from standard rounds to dust ones. Another one of Masaki's insistences: that her son be well equipped to take on any scenario. What made the gun different from any regular shotguns that were generally used was what looked like a third barrel on the bottom of the gun connected to a secondary trigger, also located under the primary one. Ichigo gave the trigger an experimental test and was not disappointed as a black blade, coloured much like the weapon's namesake, emerged from the third barrel, showing it to be almost as long as the barrel itself.

Emerged may have been too generous a word though. The usual word would probably be something like, 'fired out incredibly fast' or if you asked some people 'that nearly took my fucking head off'. Let it be stated Ichigo needed practise at the kind of recoil that mechanism gave to bring the blade out at that speed, but it was, in its creator's eyes, necessary. Xander had idealised it as the blade being able to fire out at a speed fast enough to be used in close combat momentarily, although it took Ichigo practise, seeing as it was still a blade on the end of a shotgun, meaning it was still difficult to use, and recoiled like nobody's business.

It still didn't change the fact that Nora nearly beheaded herself when the hyper girl snatched the weapon up when Xander had first given it to Ichigo. Nora was mischievous but she really was curious as to what kind of weapon Xander had forged Ichigo, as Nora had never seen Ichigo do what she and Ren had to and assist Xander in designing them. Although she would later find out the weapon had been designed and put into production at around the time she and Ren were first brought to Kabukicho.

Putting his gun onto the holster on his back, he'd say holster and anyone else would say a haphazard strap that really didn't look like it made the weapon safe to carry around like that, Ichigo turned to inspect his other weapon, a sword that between him and Xander, they still couldn't name.

It was a more traditional piece, being a standard steel Katana, although Ichigo was sure the material was definitely not steel seeing as he hadn't managed to break the weapon yet, and Masaki's hardworking (sadistic) way of training the teens had rubbed off on her son's own personal training.

The blade itself at least was standard, being a regular silver, straight blade that curved off at the end, identifying it as a katana compared to other, more commonly used swords. The tsuba was a brown wood that squared around the end of the hilt and had, what looked to Ichigo at least, a pair of crescent moons carved in, one on each side of the blade. The hilt itself was the same old bronze piece covered in blue cloth that Xander had once showed Ichigo as an 'Interesting piece he had found that he wasn't sure what to do with'. Ichigo didn't get why Xander used it for his weapon instead of scrapping it, because Xander had said it was a very old piece, but when asked Xander would just say that "It felt right" and leave it at that.

"Well it looks like these two are still in great condition, at least it means you aren't losing your touch yet old man" Ichigo jabbed at his friend jokingly.

"I ain't that old yet, strawberry" And that was the box that broke the horse's back, as Ichigo started blushing and fuming, while Nora burst out laughing, using a chuckling Ren as support. Let it be stated that Ichigo Kurosaki was as hard headed and strong willed as his mother, but one of the few weaknesses he had, other than people asking about his hair colour, or his lack of Aura, no the biggest issue was that his name had two meanings in the language it came from.

Ichigo could mean "Number One Protector" … or it could mean Strawberry, a fact which Xander never failed to use against him and never failed to leave a giggling Nora, who was always amused at her scowling friend's discomfort / annoyance at that particular detail.

But before Ichigo could think of a valid response, Xander turned to him and tossed a chest guard at him, without a care in the world. Ichigo would've been annoyed but he was still fuming about the comment about the second meaning of his name and caught the chest guard without realising it.

"Well go ahead and put it on then, between all our fixes and upgrades we've been boiling to death in here and your new gear is the last on the list!" Nora wasn't really impatient, but Masaki had been insistent on getting Ichigo set up with combat attire that would make up, at least somewhat, for his lack of Aura, and Nora wanted to see what Ichigo and Xander's brainstorming had resulted in.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin'" And with that Ichigo stepped out of the room to put on his new gear.

He returned about fifteen minutes later wearing an entirely different outfit. He wore his usual tight black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of white jeans and standard black combat boots, but it was everything else he wore that was eye-catching. Over his shirt he wore a matte black chest guard, which was bare except for an emblem that looked somewhat like a skull on the front of it in white. Over that he wore an open white trench coat, which adorned the same emblem in black on the back of it. Nobody knew why Ichigo chose an emblem like that, but it seemed unique and he thought it looked cool, although he had no idea where the idea of it came from, but he was fond enough of it that he had kept a piece of carved wood in a pentagonal shape with the same emblem engraved in it, which he wore around his neck, under his shirt.

On the back of his trench coat he had the strap for Midnight and another strap the held the sheath for his sword. He also had a few pouches strapped to the chest guard and around his belt to hold ammunition and dust. Mostly ammunition though, because he tended to tear through it rather quickly.

Xander was the first to comment "Well it's definitely an improvement, though I couldn't think of a way to fix your face scowley" The nickname was, of course, based off of the fact Ichigo had started scowling more as he grew older, it wasn't his fault! His face just tended to set that way, and it wasn't like he never smiled, just that he unconsciously scowled just as much.

"Sarcastic remarks aside, it's effective and functional, and that's what it'll take to keep Masaki from going all Super Mom on you" Ren offered.

"Well it looks cool, so do you feel cool?" was the energetic reply from Nora, always less focused on the important details and more the small, nicer things.

"Well it feels pretty damn cool, you did a good job on this Xander" Ichigo sincerely replied, the sarcastic comments and jabs gone, he truly appreciated the lengths his friend went to in making sure he was prepared and that Masaki wouldn't stop them from leaving.

"Well if it's that good, are you actually gonna pay for it?" Xander grumbled out, somewhat irritated that he had agreed to do all this work for free.

"Maybe when I'm actually getting payed, I'll consider it" Ichigo grinned at the opportunity to irritate his friend, because that was how their friendship worked sometimes.

Ignoring Xander's mumbles of 'frickin' cheapskate' and other jabs along the lines of him doing work like this for free, Ichigo continued "Well it's getting late and we're leaving tomorrow, its best we head off now" he said, holding out his fist to his oldest friend. Ichigo understood that they were leaving the next day and that would mean it would be a while before he would see his village, his mother and his friend again.

"See ya round, Ichigo" Xander replied, bumping fists. It was probably the one of the few times he had ever called Ichigo by name, though this time it was more a way of acknowledging that he was finally going to the place he'd wanted to go since his childhood. Xander couldn't help but think back to those days, with the innocent little kid that'd stick up for the others, and stuck up for him of all people because of a racist customer. If anything, Xander pitied the people of Vale. Ichigo had been pulling shit like that since _before he had turned ten_. ' _Vale is so doomed_ ' Xander figured Beacon was where Masaki had picked up her general scariness, so he was terrified of the idea of what kind of person Ichigo would be the next time they met.

And with an energetic goodbye from Nora, and thanks from her and Ren for their weapons, they left thinking about what the future would bring.

* * *

It wasn't long until they found themselves walking at the edge of a river that ran through the opposite side of the village, the sun beginning to set, giving an orange glow to the water.

They stayed like that, in silence, thinking about what the place they were going to would mean for them.

For Ichigo, it meant working towards a dream of becoming strong and protecting others. That was all it meant to him, he didn't care about stories of glory or money or any of that stuff, he just wanted to be stronger. Ever since he was a kid it seemed to be something drilled into his mind, the need to get stronger, to progress and better himself, because he wanted to protect. " **I guess old habits die hard, heh** " The voice chuckled at its own joke, once again disappearing. That might be something he wanted to look up in Vale too. Having a somewhat psychotic voice in your head definitely wasn't normal, Ichigo was aware of that much.

For Ren, it meant getting stronger so he could follow Ichigo and look out for Nora. That was all that mattered, _they_ were all that mattered. Calm though he may have been, the events of Kuroyuri were still fresh in his mind, and he _refused_ to lose anyone like that again. Nora was his best friend, who he made a promise to about always sticking together, a promise he would keep, no matter what. Ichigo was a brother to him, that made him realise he needed to be stronger, that gave him a drive, so he would go where Ichigo went.

For Nora, it was as simple as keeping her promise to Ren and staying with him and Ichigo, nothing else after that. Those two were her best (and, admittedly, _only)_ friends, and they stuck together.

"I'm really gonna miss this place" Nora chose to speak up among the silence, voicing the thoughts of the other two teens.

"Yeah, but where we're going we'll learn to protect places like this, and the people in it" Ren's response carried none of his usual stoicism, instead showing a sombre tone, knowing he was leaving the only place he could see as a home after Kuroyuri.

Said sombre tone was immediately interrupted through Ichigo's usual method of head bopping.

"Quit being a dumbass, and don't be so sad about it!" He snapped at his friend, continuing "We'll be back before you know it, and like you said, we'll be stronger and that's what matters. Home isn't going anywhere, and with Ka-chan around it's not going to have issues with Grimm, so lighten up" Ichigo could always tell when Ren was getting depressing, he'd developed a sixth sense for it over the years, and he'd never failed in trying to cheer his friend up, although most of the time he'd left it to Nora. The bond those two shared was something Ichigo had admired, because they were always there for each other, no matter what.

Of course, the nostalgic mood was ruined when Nora's stomach rumbled loudly and her instant reaction was "Pancakes?"

Ichigo couldn't stifle the laugh that escaped, instead sending a look over to Ren which made his friend cave to the question.

"Fine, because it's an occasion" That cheered Nora right up, and the three returned home with the worries about future events absent from their minds.

* * *

"Y'know, I'd never thought the day would come where I'd be saying goodbye to all three of you" Masaki stated, not out of sadness. It was more out of a sense of pride for her son and the two children she had stumbled upon in a destroyed village.

"And frankly I thought you'd never get out of my hair, kid" That promptly got Xander an elbow in the gut and a death glare from Masaki, immediately making the man shrink back into himself, wondering what he'd done wrong because in his eyes he was being completely honest.

"It's not like we'll be gone forever or anything, we'll have to come back. You make great pancakes!" Was Nora's reply, although she really was joking that time. Nora genuinely looked up to Masaki, because she was such a caring person, and technically the first adult that ever really gave a damn about Nora. Masaki helped her through her difficulties that she had with people at first, even when Nora was difficult Masaki understood that's what living on the streets could do to a kid.

"Nora's right, I mean about the coming back part, although you do make good pancakes" Came Ren's response, his doubts from the previous day gone, this was his home. And he swore to his parents' graves that he wouldn't lose another one.

"Ichigo?" Came Masaki's questioning voice, seeing her son's far off look.

Ichigo just stared back at her, before engulfing her in a hug, which she gladly returned. When he released her, he was at a loss for words. There really wasn't anything that could be said that hadn't already been said, he was going to Beacon to get stronger to protect what he cared about. And everything he cared about was standing around him, so he resolved himself; it was no longer about _wanting_ to get stronger. He _would_ get stronger, no matter what; nothing would stop him from protecting this.

" **If your resolve is strong enough, your blade will never waver.** " The voice had returned again, although its usual sarcasm and psychotic tone was replaced with one of strength and support, and Ichigo couldn't help but wonder _who_ the voiced belonged to, and why he thought he should know them.

"Ichigo?" This time it was Ren questioning his silence.

All Ichigo could do was smile, the brightest they had seen in a while.

"It's the start of a whole new adventure."

* * *

 **Can't tell if that ending was too cheesy or not. Meh, whatever.**

 **72 Reviews. 112 Favourites. 166 Follows.**

 **You guys… never cease to leave me at a total loss for words.**

 **I fuck up my story, think it's over and yet after a day of thinking it over I decide to start afresh, reworking some story issues and continuing on as if nothing ever happened. And people actually stuck around long enough to see my decision. I was totally gobsmacked by the fact that even after my screwup I'm still getting such great support on what was meant to be an occasional hobby but has now turned into something I'm doing for fun and for one other thing most importantly:**

 **You guys.**

 **I've fed you this same plate of crap since chapter two. You guys are the driving force that keeps my story going, when I started I didn't think I could write for shit, and you guys supported what I wrote anyway (and got me to 23** **rd** **out of 55 stories rated K-T on FF in the section for this crossover). When I fucked up, I fully admitted it even though I know my mistakes lost me people that read this. I admitted to my mistakes, and will continue to do so, as long as you lovely people are here to point them out.**

 **I love you guys for giving me inspiration to write, and make me realise writing is a pretty fun hobby, unless you have a headache.**

 **But anyway, off the emotional crap and onto the chapter.**

 **This chapter was mostly a lot of setup, with some attempts at emotion near the end (sorry if that was bad I'm not a very emotional person). So I chose this time to actually reveal Ichigo's weapons instead of the original (crap) chapter 7 where he used the sword but the gun was only mentioned.**

 **So of course we get a standard katana which can pretty much be imagined as Ichigo's Zanpakutou at the start of Bleach but it's actually normal sized and not obnoxiously sized.**

 **And then we get the brain child of boredom and education. Midnight. Crappy name, I know, but I stuck with the moon theme all Ichigo's other crap seems to have. So I originally totally hinted, if not outright mentioned the concept for this gun earlier in the story, back when I had the scene with Ichigo and Xander brainstorming weapon ideas, the same chapter Ren and Nora arrived in Kabukicho.**

 **Essentially it is just a shotgun that has a sword on it, but I thought that was lame, so instead of it being like a bayonet, I had it more like an extendable spike, for lack of a better term. You pull an extra trigger and the sword blade emerges, but it's setup as a weapon with a lot of recoil because the sword needs to come out fast because it'd be primarily used for stabbing.**

 **Give me your opinions on what I did with the weapon in a review if you want, it was a concept I'm very fond of.**

 **And then we come to Ichigo's appearance.**

 **I only realised after writing all of this that it can totally be likened to Marvel's Punisher, and that was 100% accidental. Trench coats are cool and I wanted Ichigo's emblem to be the substitute badge, because what else would it be?**

 **So then I went on with character interactions and attempts at emotion before ending the chapter.**

 **Now for those of you that were horrified at the crap original chapter 7 because I killed off Masaki and think I'm doing the same thing here by not having her in the plot: WRONG.**

 **Masaki will return later in the story, because thinking about how you ruined a story and wasted a character really helps fuel the brain on ways you could've actually used that character. That's all I'm giving you.**

 **Praise, hurrah, next chapter we finally get to canon RWBY. Because I'm not sure how much more original content I can think up, it's hurting my brain, so I want to do something I may be better at: integrating a new character into a pre-existing story and having them actually effect certain events. Although I'm sorry to say I won't be able to do this with certain events with repercussions we don't yet know the result of (Yes I mean I have no idea about saving Pyrrha or Penny. Sorry but we don't know how their deaths are going to affect the story still.)**

 **Also I hope you guys like the new name and summary.**

 **And in regards to certain chapters being revised : If I like some of the chapters and don't think anything needs changing I'll update the chapter with a note at the start of it.**

 **Anyway, see ya next time :D**


	8. The Shining Beacon (1)

**I Don't Own Jack Shit. I Don't Own RWBY Or Bleach Either.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 1: The Shining Beacon**

* * *

"Okay, it's official, the view gets boring after a while" Ichigo drawled out, bored at staring out the window and wondering if the airship to Beacon was _deliberately_ this slow. ' _Wonder if it's a test of patience or if the driver is just on a goddamn coffee break, all day_ ' He truly had nothing else to think about, he was _that_ bored.

' **Okay, permanent coffee break? That's a dumb idea, even coming out of your mind** ' the voice had gotten bored of the view too, it seemed. So it went to its usual pastime of mocking Ichigo or making general comments.

Of course one might wonder _why_ Ichigo was sitting bored out of his mind by a window and not, perhaps, sticking around with Ren or Nora. Truth was they had gotten bored too, with Nora snoozing on the seats next to him while Ren idly read a book on the other side of Nora. Boredom was truly the only thing that could defeat an energetic person. The flight took _that_ long.

So, Ichigo decided, with nothing else to do, that he would explore.

' **Explore what? It is literally a straight line, and we both know you aren't bored enough to actually socialise** ' the voice had him there.

Ichigo honestly wondered if they could've gone and explored Vale and then _walked_ to Beacon, which was up a cliff. He honestly thought even he was getting bored of repeating how slow it was.

He then decided to occupy the time he had left thinking on what was actually happening right now. He was actually going to Beacon, where he had wanted to be trained ever since his mother's stories as a child, and was taking his two best friends with him. The thought brought a smile to his face, looking over at Ren, still reading his book, and a sleeping Nora, who was mumbling _something_ to do with Ursa and … rugs?

He remembered he would need to speak to Ozpin at some point about his ability to access his Aura (or lack thereof), and he intended to do research about the ever increasing presence of that voice in the corner of his mind.

' **You ain't gonna find shit about me in a book. I'm too badass for some kiddie tale** ' let it be stated that the voice also had an immense ability to irritate Ichigo, which it prided itself on.

' _Then I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what the hell you are then?_ ' Ichigo decided to try the easier approach, and the one he was best at: being totally blunt and straight to the point.

' **Sorry, can't do that,** _ **he'll**_ **notice if I do, I'm barely keeping it out of** _ **his**_ **notice that I talk to you, anyway. When you need to know who I am you will, just don't die before then** ' the psychotic tone was back at the end of the statement, but Ichigo was only left to wonder who _he_ was or more accurately, _what_ 'he' was, along with the Voice.

Ichigo decided to distract himself with other thoughts, like how he, Ren and Nora had managed to skip a 'rigorous entrance exam' to get into Beacon _purely_ because they were trained by Masaki, Ozpin's words himself, were 'While I would have most students perform this exam, you three are an exception. Masaki speaks highly of your capabilities and her judgement has never been too far off.' The statement completely baffled Ichigo, along with Ren and Nora, because of what seemed like such high praise before even starting at the academy. Though they did happen to miss the calculating gaze Ozpin held on Ichigo throughout the meeting.

But, because they missed the exam, Ichigo felt like he needed to train, so he had. And at some point he managed to rope the other two in, although it was really just roping Ren in. Nora had become a total training slave driver because of Masaki, and that in and of itself was terrifying. Masaki was a sadistic teacher, with sadistic training methods. Combine that with someone like Nora who had endless energy, and you get a training machine that would work you to death, past death and through the afterlife.

' **I'd say you're exaggerating but Jesus! That ball of sugar high is scarier than your mother sometimes.** ' That was another thing, over the past years since Masaki tried to unlock his Aura the Voice had changed. Well not so much changed but gotten more talkative. When they started training Ichigo would occasionally hear it, telling him when to dodge, like his own warning alarm for how to fight. As years went by, it spoke more often out of training, making idle comments on things he did, or saw. And ever since he left Kabukicho its comments had become much more frequent than he was used to.

The thing still sucked at holding a conversation though, randomly disappearing without a word.

Ichigo decided he had confused himself enough on thoughts with the Voice, but was removed from his thoughts at the sight of the screen across from them on the airship, or more accurately, _what_ was playing on it.

' _Typical_ ' Ichigo thought to himself ' _Another incident involving the White Fang_ ' Ichigo still held his views about different people, but in his eyes, more mature than his childhood, he saw the White Fang as one thing.

Complete and total morons.

' _From peacefully fighting for their rights to pretty much declaring war on the rest of the world. Fear isn't peace, and won't keep peace between Humans and Faunus, just increase the gap._ ' The news report continued onto some bowler hat wearing thief Ichigo didn't have the capability to give a damn about, he was sick of the airship and wanted to actually walk somewhere. Which was impressive in and of itself with the amount of walking from Kabukicho to the edge of Anima, where you could get a boat to Sanus, and then having to walk from one side of Sanus where they arrived to the side Vale was on. Needless to say, wanting to walk after all that did seem strange, but when you'd done it for the purpose of training, that's all you could see it as.

Of course Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a blonde kid running across the airship, holding his mouth. Before Ichigo's thoughts could travel to the clearly motion sick blonde, he was distracted by the shouts of a girl, who he quickly identified as a shorter girl with black hair with red highlights, shouting at a taller blonde. ' _Well at least the classmates are a bit lively._ ' Ichigo chose to choose a more optimistic approach to his thoughts, not hearing a sound that _distinctly_ sounded like a facepalm coming from the Voice.

' **I swear to god you're jinxing us into something right now, but I have no idea what** ' were the words that escaped the Voice's … did it even have lips?

' _So bored_ ' Ichigo once again distracted himself in the void of random thoughts that plagued his brain, inwardly praying that things would get more interesting once the airship landed.

* * *

Ichigo wished things had stayed boring.

If they had he probably wouldn't be in this scenario, with the dark haired girl from earlier, along with Ren and Nora behind him while a girl that wore _way_ too much white yelled. He couldn't specifically say _what_ she was yelling at, because he stopped caring relatively quickly.

It had all started when the godforsaken airship had finally landed. Ren and Ichigo were the last to depart, having to wake up a very much dreaming Nora. Ichigo regretted letting them stop for pancakes before heading to the airship. If Nora ate pancakes before sleeping she'd be out for a good while.

After _finally_ managing to get the girl conscious enough to leave the airship, they were greeted by the sight of a very pissy looking girl that, as stated previously, wore way too much of one colour.

White dress (Ichigo wouldn't have called it anything else, and vaguely wondered how somebody would even fight wearing that), White heels , **'How would somebody fight in** _ **heels**_ **, for crying out loud?'** , White bolero jacket over the dress with red on the inside **'Finally more than one colour'**. Combine a look like that with pale skin and white hair that practically _radiated_ arrogance, and you had a perfect recipe for someone Ichigo just _knew_ would piss him off.

Of course, said White girl was yelling at somebody that could've been her polar opposite.

' _The same girl from the airship_ ' Ichigo reminded himself. Black hair that gradated to red at the tips, she was barely shorter than the White girl. ' _Well two colours are better than one_ ' he dryly thought. The girl wore what looked somewhat like a dress, but at least comparably less like a dress than the one who was _still_ yelling. What she wore looked more like a skirt, along with a pair of black combat boots and a red cloak that topped her outfit.

And that was when Ichigo realised that the loud girl was shaking a loose vial of Dust at the Red girl, triggering a sneeze which resulted in an explosion.

' **You'd think the term 'Exploded on the first day of school' wasn't literal, wouldn't ya?'**

"Maybe we should actually see if they're okay?" Was Ren's comment, making Ichigo realise he had kinda just stood there and watched, listening to the Voice, while events took place, he then took a look over to Nora, who was chuckling at the sight of an explosion.

When the smoke finally cleared, the two involved looked relatively unharmed. But Ichigo didn't think the White girl could look any more pissed off than she did before, and had just proven himself wrong.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!" The girl berated the shorter girl, who Ichigo realised looked if only a bit younger than they did.

"I'm really, really sorry" The Red girl definitely seemed awkward, ' _probably nervous about being at Beacon'_ Ichigo thought to himself, but didn't see that as an excuse for the White girl's anger.

"Ugh, you complete –." That was as far as she got before Ichigo decided to make his presence know.

"Hey, leave her alone, it's not like it's her fault, and she apologized already" Ichigo reasoned, at least trying to seem like this girl's attitude wasn't a bit annoying.

"And who asked for your opinion?" The girl in White _really_ wasn't in a good mood, especially after the girl in Red's actions.

"Just a person here to train like everybody else. So how about you stop being a jerk to her, what makes you so special?" Let it be stated Ichigo didn't have a very long temper when it came to people that annoyed him.

"She's Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Came the response, but not from the one currently pissing him off. The response came from a dark haired girl wearing a bow, who seemed more focused on the book currently in her hands than the actual conversation.

That was all it took for the now named Weiss to look over at Ichigo, who was gaping like a fish. "Well you asked what makes me special, now you have your answer" The recognition had brought back the arrogance, which made sense to Ichigo. Although how the daughter of Jacques Schnee could be proud of her name, without knowing the less than honourable facts behind it was lost on Ichigo.

Of course, much to Weiss' detriment, Ichigo's gaping was quickly replaced with full on laughter, which infuriated Weiss, who believed she wasn't being taken seriously or respected.

"Well what, may I ask, is so funny?" was the annoyance filled response.

"If you're the heiress to a producer of dust, then" He stopped to let out another few laughs "You really should know better than shaking around a loose vial of dust." The humour of the situation wasn't lost on Ren, who wasn't afraid to chuckle a bit, knowing that Weiss wasn't paying attention to him or Nora. The Red girl herself had to let out a few chuckles at Weiss' infuriated look, while the Black haired girl looked mildly pleased, or even amused by the situation, and proceeded to walk off.

At the ridicule, all Weiss could do was make some infuriated noises before storming off in the opposite direction, before the Red girl yelled out "I promise I'll make this up to you!" That made Ichigo smile a bit, seeing somebody being kind even after the less than stellar situation she had found herself in.

Her next action was to whirl around to face him, Ren and Nora, after unsuccessfully turning to find the already retreating form of the black-haired girl, and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Ruby, you didn't have to do that, y'know. I mean you could've anyway and I appreciated the help but-!" she smiled gratefully at Ichigo for helping her with the crabby heiress.

"It's no problem, the name's Ichigo." Was the response she got, before looking over to his friends for introductions.

"Ren" was the only response she got from the black haired one, before looking over to where the other girl _used_ to be, before being shocked by a cry of "Nora!" directly in her ear, shocking her into falling down.

When she went to get back up, after the surprising introduction, it was a hand that didn't belong to any of the people introduced instead belonging to – as she realised to the detriment of her first statement after him helping her up – the guy that threw up on the ship.

So when he went with the introduction of "Hi, I'm Jaune" Her first reaction naturally (unfortunately for her and Jaune and funny for the onlookers) was "Weren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

That led to an embarrassed looking Jaune and an equally embarrassed Ruby, realising she had said that out loud, before apologizing profusely, only to be waved off by Jaune telling her it was fine.

"So does anyone know the way to where were supposed to be going?" Was Jaune's next question, prompting Ichigo to say "You came up to us because you had no idea where you were going, didn't you?"

"Yeah, kinda" Jaune let out, kind of ashamed at having no idea where he was meant to go, but it's not like they gave instructions!

"So we have no idea where we're going, have no idea _how_ to figure out where we're meant to go, and have no idea how to get around this place. Pointless wandering?" Was Nora's summary, pitching an idea that seemed completely irrelevant to Ruby and Jaune, who were about to respond before they were outvoted.

"Pointless wandering" Ichigo and Ren chimed in in unison, before all three set off, prompting the remaining two teens to follow after.

* * *

 **79 Reviews. 135 Favourites. 193 Follows.**

 **You guys are probably getting REALLY sick of me putting this at the start of chapters, but I just can't help but mention how I NEVER in a million years thought something I wrote would get this much support, before any substantial events in the story. I had done absolutely nothing to warrant such great support and you all continue to give it anyway, so thank you all.**

 **I originally wanted to cover everything before the Emerald Forest in this chapter, but that seemed too long and I ended up with a good point to cut off the chapter.**

 **I… honestly don't know how else I could portray Weiss at the start of canon. She was a complete and total bitch and I'm not sure if I would've been able to portray her in any other way, but that's for you guys to decide, I guess. Don't expect Weiss to be written this way for the entire series, just parts of volume 1 (she was a bitch in volume 1 though, only coming off as slightly nicer in the badge and the burden and at the end of volume 1).**

 **I got my first real practice at writing canon characters that aren't as easy to write as Ren and Nora. That's really the unfortunate part with team JNPR because until volume 3 and 4, they're just used as side characters, which kinda pissed me off. Ren is kind of easy to write as the calm and collected one and Nora as the hyper, energetic (crazy) one. I'm gonna need to get more practice looking at canon characters while writing them so don't be afraid to point out if I make characters OOC (except Ichigo, reincarnation and all).**

 **Other parts of the chapter, I feel as if I made a lot of emphasis on the airship to Beacon being boring (which I kinda also pointed out at the end of that little segment). Although I managed to avoid going on some annoying for you guys (and me) super long canon explanations of things people already know.**

 **Well… there isn't much else to say, really. Next chapter, as of uploading this, is about two thirds written, so look forward to that in a week's time.**

 **Another note to add on to that:**

 **New chapters will upload weekly, assuming I have written the chapters to an acceptable extent. Another thing I haven't failed to repeat is that right now life comes before writing, but that doesn't mean I don't have the free time to write. So I'm giving myself a buffer on writing times so I can release chapters while already writing the following chapter. This impromptu schedule is, of course, subject to change depending in school work and life. If the story goes down for an unknown period of time, don't assume that it is dead. You guys have been too great for me to simply drop off the face of the Earth without an explanation. That's an irrelevant side note, though because I have no intentions whatsoever as of right now of ending this story.**

 **As always, reviews are incredibly appreciated and I hope to see you guys next time :D**


	9. The Shining Beacon (2)

**Error. The disclaimer has failed to load. Would you like to send an error report?**

 **FUCK NO**

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 **Volume 1: Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon Part 2**

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"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on" Jaune explained in response to the nickname.

"Look, I'm sorry, Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind" Ruby justified, still embarrassed at her earlier mistake.

"Y'know, first impressions are everything, Vomit Boy, that's all Crater Face is trying to say. Besides, it was funny" Nora butted in, eliciting groans from both teens at the nicknames.

"So what was the point of pointless wandering again? We still don't know where we're going" Jaune stated dumbly, getting a deadpanned expression from Ichigo.

"It's called 'Pointless Wandering' for a reason, dude" He explained as if they weren't meant to be somewhere, y'know, _starting at a prestigious academy_.

"Ichigo's lacklustre explanations aside, we're wandering whilst _trying_ to find where we're meant to go, we call it pointless wandering to satisfy Nora's curiosity because she always gets sidetracked" The more detailed explanation of what it meant from Ren got a look of understanding from the two teens that didn't know Nora as well, leaving a silence in the air that nobody knew what to do with.

So Ruby did what Ruby did best, dork out on weapons. Or that was the assumed intention of pulling out a black and red, silver bladed, _scythe_ before impaling it into the ground.

"So… I got this thing" was the statement that followed, which made the action of pulling out a scythe casually seem like it was a practised way of starting a conversation.

' **If that ain't a conversation starter, I don't know what is** ' The Voice echoed in Ichigo's head, and he gladly agreed with it.

Of course, said conversation starter was followed by an incredibly dumb exclamation from Jaune of "Woah! Is… is that a scythe?" To which Ruby acted as if he didn't just point out something incredibly obvious, instead responding "It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle" which just seemed to confuse Jaune further, leading to Ichigo intervening.

"It's a gun. Don't look so surprised, everybody and their grandmother seems to have a weapon that doubles as a gun these days" he stated, pulling Midnight from his back. "Say hello to Midnight"

"Woah, that's cool, what's it do?" Questioned Ruby, intrigued by the sight of another awesome looking weapon, although to her _every_ weapon looked awesome so even what looked like a regular shotgun was cool to her.

"I thought you said everything doubled as a gun, yours looks like it's only a gun" To which Ichigo responded by aiming the barrel away from any people that would stand in the way (he had to practise that before showing his weapon because Nora tended to move around a lot) before pulling the secondary trigger, revealing the blade.

"I stand corrected" Was Jaune's reaction to the presence of a blade that appeared _very_ fast. Frankly, he thought Ichigo was going to fire it and that was why he was aiming away, so as not to hit anyone by accident.

"Well I got a huge-ass hammer! Say hello to Magnhild!" Exclaimed Nora before a small crater was made between them, with Nora standing in the middle looking proud while holding out, true to her word, a huge-ass hammer.

"Oooh that's cool" Ruby was pretty much having a field day while her new friends showed off awesome looking weapons, although she was still interested in the sheath Ichigo had strapped to his back, because if he had another cool weapon she would've loved to see it.

"Magnhild's also a grenade launcher, so Nora, _please_ no more demonstrations. We really don't want to pay for any damages before we even start here." Ren interrupted before his energetic friend could continue, effectively stopping the gleam in his friend's eyes. He continued by revealing StormFlower, a simpler pair of weapons, their purpose clearly shown by their appearance as less complex weapons, simply being pistols with bladed sickles attached to the end of the barrels.

That, of course, left Jaune as the last person to display his weapon.

"Well what do you have Jaune?" Was Ruby's question, hoping to see the weapon of choice that belonged to the other friend she had made.

"Well, I got this sword, and I've got a shield too" he showed his weapons, a regular looking broadsword and a kite shaped shield.

Of course, the lack of any apparent secondary functions forced Ruby to ask, "Well, what do they do?" which led to Jaune fumbling around with his shield as it folded into itself, becoming the sheath for the sword.

"Well – the shield gets smaller so when I get tired of carrying it I can just… put it away" he knew he finished lamely, but Crocea Mors was an old weapon, not built the same as modern weaponry.

"It'd weigh the same though" Ichigo put his two lien in, seeing the conversation seemed awkward.

"Yeah, yeah it does" Jaune responded, unsure of what to say.

"Well I guess I went a little overboard in designing my weapon" Ruby put in her opinion, seeing the downtrodden face Jaune was making at his weapon, leading Jaune to a new subject of conversation.

"Wait… You all made your weapons?" he questioned, unsure of how the lower academies trained their students, having never been to one himself (although it would really help him out if people never knew that).

"Yeah, all students at Signal forge their own weapons" Ruby stated it as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"We didn't really forge our weapons, but we helped a friend of ours design them" Ren explained, seeing Jaune's questioning gaze at how the other three teens had gotten their weapons, of course, the topic of Xander brought a small smile to Ichigo's face at the thought of his friend, and a louder remembrance to Nora.

"Xander was the coolest" she stated simply, preferring to say it out loud than keep her thoughts silent.

"So how did you get your weapons then, if you didn't make, or aid in the making, of them?" questioned Ichigo, curious at the new topic of discussion.

"My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war" he stated, still looking downtrodden that his weapon wasn't as up to date or cool looking as his peers.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me, well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days" she still wanted to cheer her friend up, and Ichigo quickly caught on, unsheathing the blade from his back.

"Don't think you're the only one who uses an old looking weapon" he stated, holding out the nameless katana. "You've just gotta prove that the classics can keep up with the modern stuff" he stated with a smile, hoping to make his newfound friend feel a bit better.

"The classics, yeah" Jaune replied with a grin, while Ichigo sheathed his blade, leaving a disappointed Ruby who'd realised she was too caught up in the conversation to get a good look at the weapon.

"Distractions and cool weapons aside, we still have no idea where we're going" of course Ren ended up being the voice that brought them back to reality, and more pointless wandering.

* * *

"About time we found where we were supposed to go, but at least we aren't late" Surmised Ichigo, annoyed at how long it took them to find any sort of map or directions indicating where they were meant to go.

"Well we're here now, so all's well that ends well, I guess" Ruby chose a more optimistic approach to the scowling teen, the others showing up behind the two that had raced off to make sure they weren't late.

"Yeah, I guess so" was Ichigo's response, making Ruby realise he didn't have too much to say sometimes, but wasn't as quiet as Ren.

"Did we miss anything?" Jaune asked, hopeful that he hadn't messed up on the first day.

"No, in fact it looks like things haven't even started yet" Ren supplied, noticing the lack of any sort of teachers or speeches that would occur at the start of a school year.

"Ruby! Over here, I saved you a spot!" came a shout that surprised them, being directed at Ruby by the blonde that was with her on the airship, although Ichigo wondered why she wasn't present during the 'incident' with the Icy heiress and the loose vial of dust.

"Oh, that's my sister, I've gotta go. Nice meeting you!" She was quick to speak, before heading towards the older girl.

"Well at least you guys are still here, means I'm not entirely alone" Jaune supplied, happy he hadn't been ditched at the first available opportunity, not that he thought he would, but he kinda did. Ichigo was scowling a lot and Jaune couldn't tell what it was directed at and feared it might've been him, before realising Ichigo scowled a lot so he couldn't really tell. Ren was few on words and stoic, seeming calm and not much else. And Nora was just… difficult to understand with her eccentric personality.

But before Jaune could think of anything to say, he was interrupted by the sound of static, indicating the use of speakers around the room. ' _We were really close to being late, weren't we?_ ' his brain supplied, realising a few minutes would've been the difference between showing up or facing whatever repercussions the school had for lateness.

Ichigo watched on as Ozpin began his speech, knowing he should listen because _this_ was the person that was meant to figure out what was up with his Aura, and that he was above all else, a teacher, one his mother had drilled into his head it would do him good to listen to.

"Ahem… I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills." He wasn't wrong, Ichigo was here for knowledge of why he was different, and _who_ the Voice was. But that was the side problem; his real goal was to get stronger, simple as that. Ozpin continued.

"And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." That was Ichigo in a nutshell, only ever caring about protecting what mattered to him.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume that knowledge can free you of this, but your time at this school will prove to you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin finished before walking off the stage. His last words had struck a chord in Ichigo, who remembered that for all his time trying to get stronger; it still brought him no closer to the answers he sought about the Voice, and his own soul, leaving him deep in thought on what his first step would be.

' **That's for you to figure out; I can't show you the road or the destination, I'm just here to make sure ya don't die alone the way .** ' He wanted to know what the Voice had to gain from helping him get stronger, but he wanted more than anything to know who the Voice that had saved his life many times belonged to, because he always repaid his debts.

"Well that was definitely the weirdest induction I've ever seen, the guy didn't seem 'all there' if you know what I mean" Jaune joked, ignorant to Ichigo not noticing him, still too lost in his own thoughts.

"The guy seemed a bit wacky, but it's funny, like one big mystery" Nora once again added a light heartedness to the cryptic headmaster.

"It seems like a goal, a question we have to answer. He told us that it was up to us to take the first step. But he didn't tell us what the first step was" Ren countered, following similar thoughts that Ichigo had regarding his own strength.

"It's like a journey; we don't know the road, nor do we know the destination. We just know we're going somewhere, and that's for us to figure out" Ichigo replied, smiling at the thought of his mere question seeming like his own adventure. After all, it had brought him all the way to Vale from Anima, hadn't it?

It wasn't until they heard Ruby call out "Hey, are you guys coming or what?" That they had realised they were so engrossed in the conversation that the entire Auditorium had filed out, leaving them alone in their conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming" Nora was first to recover, jogging out to the other girl, leaving the three guys present to walk after her, with Jaune feeling like he understood his new friends a bit better.

* * *

' _Are you proof Nora has actually driven me insane?'_

' **Go fish'**

' _That's a card game, not answering my question'_

' **If you asked smarter questions, maybe I could give ya actual answers y'know?'**

' _Unfortunately, I don't, I have no clues as to what you are and you aren't exactly helping!'_

Ichigo gave up after that attempt, having spent the last hour or so arguing to find some sliver of information about the Voice. After exploring the grounds for the day, his group (Jaune included) returned to the ballroom where they were ( _apparently_ (Because Ichigo wasn't listening at the time)) been told to return to, where they would be sleeping for the night.

On arrival Ichigo had split off from the others, much to Jaune's confusion, not so much Ren and Nora, who pitied anyone who would think of waking their friend. Nora still had nightmares about the last time.

Ichigo had immediately dropped himself and his sleeping bag down to stop and think, losing himself in conversation with the unknown Voice, who seemed a bit chattier when it was Ichigo who was actively engaging the conversation. Of course, before he could think of returning to his thoughts and conversing with whatever it was once more, he was interrupted by an arrival announcing their presence.

"Is this spot taken?" On inspection, Ichigo realised it was the same dark haired girl who had pointed out Weiss' identity earlier that day and walked off, Ichigo then realised she was speaking about the space on the other side of him, a larger space because there weren't many people coming directly into that corner of the room, deterred by the teen in the black shirt and shorts that had sat there for an hour scowling at nothing (though to them it seemed like he was scowling at _everything_ )

"Its fine, you don't need to ask." He made a hand gesture, hoping for an introduction, assuming the girl in the… yukata? He didn't even think people wore that kind of clothing anymore, even as sleepwear.

Of course, said gesturing for an introduction was ignored by the girl, who sat herself down and immediately went back to her book, so Ichigo went for a different approach, instead of appealing to niceties, approach someone about what they're interested in, and so far he hadn't seen her _without_ that book.

"What's the book about?" He decided to ask, thinking that he could use more friends since he had only made two since arriving, and someone who was actually quiet (except for Ren) would be a nice change of pace.

"Excuse me?" ' **She looked up from the book, you're makin' progress** '

He went on, ignoring the Voice's reappearance. "What's the book about; I read all kinds as a kid, so I figured I might know it"

She chose to relent, seeing that he was going to pursue this until he got somewhere, wherever he was trying to go with a random conversation topic. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body"

Well, Ichigo decided he should be scared of the Voice if the insane bought of laughter was anything to go by. ' **Sorry, but that really fuckin' sounds like Déjà vu to me** ' Its statement only served to confuse Ichigo, deciding to file the information away for later, instead continuing "I think I'd heard of that one, never got around to reading it though, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki, what's yours?" He decided now that he'd finally managed to drag her attention away from the book to see if he could actually get a name from the stoic girl.

"Blake Belladonna" came the reply, before she turned her gaze away from the orange haired teen, returning it to the book in her hands.

Ichigo wisely realised she wanted to read her book, and was satisfied at getting a name from her, so chose to return to his own thoughts, idly noticing Blake lighting a candle to help her read. He tried contacting the Voice again to go back to what seemed to be their own version of 'twenty questions'.

Key word being _tried_. The moment he managed to hear any noise he could associate with the Voice, it was its distorted voice saying ' **Blondie and Weapons Nerd incoming, Twelve 'O' Clock** '.

' _What are you –?'_ Was as far as Ichigo got in his reply before he noticed the Blonde from the airship, _'Ruby's sister'_ he reminded himself, started walking in the direction of him and Blake, with a half shout – half exclamation of "Hello!"

' _These are the people I'm at school with for the next four years?'_

' **Sounds about right with your luck'** was the only response he got from the Voice.

Luckily, for him at least, they didn't seem to have noticed him, and were instead aiming to talk to Blake _'Well she's not so social, so good luck with that'_.

"I believe you two may know each other." The Blonde, who Ichigo _still_ didn't know the name of started **'I think the Weapons Nerd starts conversations better'**

' _Not all conversations can be started with a scythe'_

' **They should be'**

Of course they at least had better luck at getting a few words out of Blake straight from the get-go, even if they were "Weren't you the girl that exploded?" Ichigo knew that would embarrass Ruby and kick in a bit of the social awkwardness he had seen earlier that day, "Uh yeah, my name's Ruby." Then the stuttering started "But you can just call me crater – actually you can just call me Ruby" of course, Ichigo _hadn't_ expected her to tell someone to address her as the impromptu nickname given to her by Nora earlier that day.

The strange introduction led to a somewhat confused "Okay" from Blake; leading to some hushed whispering between the two girls that Ichigo seriously thought didn't look related.

Of course, the Blonde didn't seem to give up, instead inquiring "Well, what's your name?" leading Blake back to one word answers, simply answering "Blake".

Ichigo couldn't help but smile a bit at the persistence of the Blonde (even if she was being oblivious to people around them trying to sleep) at trying to get the girl to say _something_. "Well I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister" Ichigo finally had a name to link the face to, but still she continued "I like your bow" She seemed to be taking the approach on common interests that Ichigo had used before, but talking about the bow didn't seem to work as reading had, leading to a somewhat insincere sounding "Thanks" from Blake.

Unfortunately, the now named Yang couldn't seem to take a hint, continuing on "They go great with your" she seemed to take a pause, but could help herself, she felt like she was trying to talk to a brick wall to make it be friends with her sister "pyjamas".

' **Oh dear Kami, say SOMETHING, this is fucking painful!'**

"Y'know, maybe when somebody seems reluctant to talk instead of engaging in a conversation while holding a book, it might actually be because they're trying to read." He thought he'd best go with the obvious approach, seeing as Yang didn't look ready to stop talking anytime soon.

Blake sent him an appreciative glance, while Yang had somebody else to direct conversation at "Oh, and who might you be?" said question was because Yang hadn't even noticed him sitting there, and with hair like that, she was surprised to say the least. Of course her interest in finding out who the unnamed stranger was, was rebuked when her sister talked again "Oh, hey Ichigo" to which he gave a small wave.

"Oh yeah, Yang this is Ichigo, he was with the other guys that helped me out when I exploded" That made Yang understand a bit better because at first she was concerned because the guy looked kinda like trouble, with orange hair and all.

"Oh, well thanks for that, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister" She held her hand out, which he took to shake, replying "I know who you are, I _have_ been sitting here the entire time you were trying to get Miss Antisocial to speak more than a few words" That, of course, lead to his pillow hitting the side of his head, leading to him sending a half-hearted glare at Blake, who was clearly the one that had thrown it at him.

Of course, bringing the conversation topic back to Blake meant that Yang decided to go back to trying to get her to speak, leading to a facepalming Ichigo, wondering where Ren was when you needed him.

But, luckily, before Yang could spout of another random topic that lead to nowhere, Ruby managed to approach the same topic Ichigo had for getting Blake to talk, being books.

"Well, what's your book about?" Blake had appreciated Ichigo for getting attention away from her, but then it did a total one-eighty back to her, but at least a topic less questionable than her bow.

"It's about a man with two souls, both fighting for control over his body" She talked like she hadn't done the same explanation to Ichigo earlier, and Ichigo decided to listen to her instead of the renewed laughter in his head.

Yang made a side comment about the book sounding 'lovely' which was evidently sarcasm, but was ignored as Ruby started talking "I love books, Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters, they're one of the reasons I wanna be a huntress." The talk about a more mature topic brought Blake back in, making her response.

"Why's that, hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Of course, what would've been a question that seemed to mock Ruby's maturity, instead brought out a more mature argument than Ichigo had heard from the younger girl since they had met.

"Well I'm hoping we all will. As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, as someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Blake was intrigued by the response, enjoying a topic of discussion that sprouted from books, responding "That's ambitious for a child, unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale" her face, smiling at the start of her statement soured in reminder of her past, and the reason she was at Beacon.

"Well that's why we're here, to make it better" The statement brought a smile to Ichigo's face, who looked over to Blake "She's right y'know" he knew he was smiling, the girl impressed him and made him agree with her philosophy on the idea.

Of course, it would've been a conversation that would've been continued, had Yang not started playing the role of the embarrassing older sister, leading to the siblings roughhousing loudly while others were trying to sleep.

Ichigo and Blake could only watch on as Weiss once more made an appearance, most certainly aggravated at her would-be classmates messing around the night before initiation instead of sleeping.

Of course, while Weiss realised who she was speaking to, irritated at being caused trouble by the same people several times in the same day, Ichigo took the initiative that would end the argument, speaking to Blake "You mind putting that out? It might shut them up for the night" Blake gave a nod of affirmation and proceeded to put the candle out, ending arguments and letting Ichigo get some sleep, too tired to try talking to the Voice again.

' **Sleep, you'll need it, things seem like they're about to get interesting'**

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 **Well I am very satisfied to say we've broken the 150 favorites and 200 follows mark in one fell swoop, thanks for that :D**

 **So this chapter, as previously mentioned, was me wanting to cover the rest of the events pre-Emerald Forest. Well I half achieved it, The First Step will be the next chappy to come out (It's already written but I'm still editing it, I think giving myself a week deadline and buffering myself by a chapter or two gives me plenty of time to write out a chapter and then look through it several times to check for mistakes or issues with how I've written the story), although it isn't as long as this chapter has been.**

 **Finally got some more character interactions, mostly between Ren, Nora and Ichigo with Ruby and Jaune. I'm quite fond of what I did with that section.**

 **The Ozpin speech was something that seemed strange and symbolic in canon and here I made it seem like something more, I think Literature in school has hard wired to make strange inferences. I just liked what I did with giving his speech an alternate meaning to characters.**

 **Not sure about how well I wrote Blake or Yang, but I tried at least. Blake came off as seclusive at best at the start, and Yang was the funny one who sometimes seems a bit flirty (that's my take, correct me if I'm wrong but they'll be easier to write with practice and once they actually have larger roles). Also, to note to people that weren't fond of it in the last chapter, I'm not going to keep making Weiss out as a 'total' mega bitch. Just as much of a bitch as she was in volume 1, although with what we now know about her life I can actually have her perspective on the scenario and her own justifications for being bitchy.**

 **I'm fond of what I've been doing with Ichigo's own kind of self discovery journey, like his own question he needs answering, but I want to know what you guys think of it.**

 **Apart from Ozzy's speech and character interactions there isn't much else I can say about this chapter, hope you enjoyed and I highly encourage leaving reviews to tell me what you think or any ideas you have. The difference between constructive criticism and hate is that criticism tells me what I did wrong (or how I've fucked up this time) and how to fix it, so if you think I've done something wrong, tell me what and depending on if it's an error I'm able to see I'll endeavor to fix it.**

 **Thanks for reading, see ya next week :D**


	10. The First Step

**Argh, FUCK. Shitting Disclaimer restarted anyway.**

 **Anyway, Onto TheTechnoMage's list of a million and one things to do INSTEAD of the eight and a half hours of homework he should be doing, next on the list is updating his story!**

 **I don't own Bleach or RWBY. If you don't know who belongs them then you can't read, or just blame Bleach's shitty ending on some divine entity.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 3: The First Step**

* * *

He awoke sometime in the morning, luckily, it seemed, before most of the other students.

' **Means you don't get to have an 'incident' around the rest of the students you're with for the next four years, but it would've been fuckin' funny if you'd had one'** Ichigo really wasn't in the mood to argue with the Voice after having just woken up, but figured he'd best get ready for the day ahead.

Cautious as to not wake any of the others who still slept, although he saw that several other students were waking, he got up and packed up his sleeping bag, half aware that Blake wasn't present ' _Guessing an early waker_ '.

Let it be stated that Ichigo Kurosaki _did not do_ mornings, usually at least. Luckily he had woken earlier, but hadn't fallen back asleep because of the Voice (he guessed the symptom of several mental disorders was useful for that if nothing else) instead of some unlucky fool. Today was the exception of his ability to tolerate mornings purely because it was the Beacon initiation, so he had to be ready.

' **Don't want you getting yourself killed because you missed some Z's'** He still questioned the Voice's concern over his wellbeing, but if the Voice was some kind of hallucination, then he guessed not wanting Ichigo to die would be at the top of its list. After all, it would die with him, wouldn't it?

' **We aren't having that conversation right now, and you're talking like dying will be so easy, or are you really that weak?'** The taunting returned, daring Ichigo to be stronger, and Ichigo would always accept that challenge.

He decided it would be best if he got himself ready before going to see if Ren and Nora were awake, because if he wasn't fully awake he wasn't capable of dealing with Nora. Coffee was a requirement to deal with that girl early in the morning. Ichigo idly wondered if Nora had this much energy as a teenager then what would she have been like as a kid if she hadn't been alone until Kuroyuri, leading to him shuddering and the Voice's instant statement of **'Yeah, don't even think of the horrors that would unleash, because I have only one thing to liken it to'** which led to a confused Ichigo wondering what the hell kind of thing would scare it.

' **If you value your life, you really don't wanna know'** of the things Ichigo wanted to remember to confront the Voice on at a later date, what that would've looked like, he didn't want to know.

By the time he had managed to ready himself, getting dressed and eating, he reconvened with Ren and Nora in the locker room only to hear the tail end of a conversation about… sloths?

' **You know, at this point I can understand why you thought I was here because she'd driven you insane, she scares me more than your mother does.'** Ichigo could totally agree with that, slave driver of a teacher or not, Masaki at least had reasonable defences to say she could plead not crazy. Nora… not so much.

"Nora. I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." Was the first statement Ichigo heard from Ren, confusing him further.

"What about sloths?" he enquired, ignoring the cries of **'Don't question crazy, you dumbass!'**

"Ichigo, I have a plan. We signal each other in the initiation using the sounds that sloths make, it'll be impossible to tell we're working together!" Ichigo now understood why the Voice said not to question crazy, because it made you question your own sanity.

"Ren… you didn't give her coffee, did you?" he wagered a guess as to why Nora seemed slightly more insane than usual.

"No, she's just excited"

"Excited? I'm thrilled, I'm overjoyed, and I am great!" There was the energy Ichigo promised to never deal with before nine in the morning.

"You two are the weirdest functioning pair I've ever seen in my entire life, and yet somehow you two are still together, kinda shows how far we've gone, hasn't it?" Ichigo's nostalgic mood kicked in, remembering that today was _the_ day. The day that would decide their futures as huntsmen (and huntress). Of course his nostalgic mood might've continued had Nora not successfully killed it, looking around in embarrassment at Ichigo's words about her and Ren.

"But not together-together" she giggled out before following after the other two.

"Whatever you say…" Ichigo teased, grinning over at Ren, watching his almost-brother glare at him.

* * *

It had taken a bit of pointless wandering for the three of them, plus Jaune, Ruby and Yang, who had shown up shortly afterwards talking about… Jaune's ability to smooth talk women, or lack thereof, if what Yang had said was anything to go by. But all small talk was cut off when they reached the right cliff (Beacon was on a cliff from multiple sides, how were they meant to know which side he meant?) all speech was cut off once Ozpin began speaking.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin opened, seeing all the students assembled and ready, including Ichigo Kurosaki, whom he had a vested interest in as Masaki's son, as well as the _situation_ with his Aura.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today." Glynda continued for him, intrigued at how teams would work this year, she had done the paperwork for it all herself, and she had seen that they had one too many students this year. Ozpin always seemed to plan for everything, so how he would handle a scenario like that left her wondering what he would do.

Oblivious to the inner thoughts of his second in charge, Ozpin continued "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. As you all may know teams of huntsmen are generally made up of four members, meaning of course that the teaming process will be two of the pairs put together. But there is one flaw in this. We have one more student than regularly planned, so a student who fails to partner up will leave Beacon, and won't be able to train at this academy this year." Ichigo could practically hear Ruby's world shattering down the line, whether at the idea of not getting to choose her partner or at the chance of not joining Beacon, he didn't know.

That fact scared him, the chance that it could be him, or any of his friends, that wouldn't get the chance to go to an academy like Beacon, where they had trained their whole lives to go to.

' **Look forward, or you will always fail'** The Voice reassured him, reinforcing his resolve to win.

Ozpin was, of course, oblivious to the entire interaction between the scowling teen and his resident sign of insanity, still continuing "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ichigo didn't fail to notice Jaune's nervousness at that statement too, wondering why his friend was afraid if he was trained like the rest of them.

' **Destroy everything in your way? I'm starting to like this guy'** Ichigo also couldn't tell if that was a cue to start fearing Ozpin as well, seeing as he had garnered the respect of the psychotic head voice.

Ozpin continued, not missing a beat, as if to either garner as much fear from the students as possible or as to not let them start getting scared. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Ichigo fazed everything out after that, realising they were indeed standing on launch pads, after seeing Weiss get launched into the forest. **'Well unless you're part bird I suggest you start thinking of a way to not go splat, dumbass'** and his one source of usual help was being an ass -

' **I resent that!'**

' _Then help me figure out how to not go splat!'_

' **But that'd take all the fun out of it'** Ichigo could practically see a shit-eating grin, he couldn't see a face, but he saw the grin. That alone was enough to piss him off.

Nora was launched with an excited whoop of "Wheeeee!" eliciting a groan from the teen that couldn't rely on an Aura to not break his everything.

' _See any water pools?''_

' **Not sure cannonballing would work here'**

Ren was launched.

' _Ask for a parachute?'_

' **Are you seriously that dumb?'**

Some asshole looking guy that was next in line was launched.

' _Apparently so, seeing as I can't get my own psychotic voices in my head to help me!'_

' **That sounds like a you problem, so figure it out on your own!'**

Yang pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on after winking at himself and Ruby, hopefully the latter, that girl seemed a bit flirty.

' _You could help me figure out how to unlock my Aura in the next two minutes?'_

' **Do I look like I know why your defective soul doesn't work?'**

Ruby was launched, a confident grin adorning her face.

' _We're fucked, aren't we?'_

' **Completely and totally'**

He at least tried to look dignified, and would forever deny anybody saying he was launched with a less than manly yell as he was launched into the forest, but at least he wasn't alone, as Jaune made him feel slightly better by having a more feminine yell as he too was launched.

* * *

Ozpin watched on, observant of Ichigo. Ozpin too had his own questions about Ichigo's soul, regarding the information given to him by Masaki. She was a valuable information source, and a great ally. Ozpin vaguely wondered if he should be concerned about launching an Aura-less teen (two if you counted Jaune, he didn't) from the top of a cliff, into a forest filled with man eating monsters.

He seriously hoped that boy came up with a landing strategy, for he feared Masaki more than he would fear Salem herself if Masaki found out her son died under his watch.

He visibly shuddered at the thought, before drinking more coffee to take his mind off of it.

* * *

He was yelling, ignorant to the Voice trying to placate him into reasonable thinking before he got himself killed.

His thoughts flooded his brain, drowning out reasonable thought as he realised he would die here. Training scenarios didn't prepare you for the real thing. His mind raced, a thousand thoughts a minute, before one Voice spoke up above his own thoughts.

' **SHUT THE FUCK UP!'** That seemed to snap him out of it, the wind still thrashing at his face as he launched towards the forest.

He calmed himself, let his breathing slow and allowed himself to think. Well he allowed his breathing to slow as much as you could while plummeting through the air.

' **Good, now think, dumbass, or like you said, we'll be totally fucked'** Since when was the psychotic Voice in his head the voice of reason?

' **Since you're a fucking idiot who seemed ready to bitch off at the first big jump'**

'I would count it as less of a jump and more of a 'forced flight' caused by a sadistic teacher who _didn't give much time to react or an option for the Aura incapable'_

' **You spending time talking instead of thinking is what got you into this situation instead of thinking of a landing strategy BEFORE you were launched, now stop talking and THINK!'** It cut itself off, content with hoping that he wouldn't get himself killed. He wasn't the King, but that didn't mean the Voice couldn't try and teach him the same way. With near death experiences and sheer stupidity as his only ally.

A cry of "Birdie no!" among the winds caught his attention, his vision flashing over to the black and red blur, most likely Ruby, shooting towards the ground. That was when he noticed what she was doing, using the recoil from the gun to slow her momentum.

"Well I guess there's a first time for everything!" He shouted aloud, mostly to himself, before drawing Midnight and proceeding to start firing. It worked, slowly, and before he knew it the momentum from launch was fading… and gravity was kicking back in. Shit, he hadn't thought about that. So he went with the next best option, choosing the nearest tree shooting towards him as he fell below the tree line, and promptly pulling the second trigger, burying his gun into the trunk.

' _Well, not dead yet, but I think I'm gonna need a minute.'_ Of course the universe was never that kind in his situation, as he looked down to see a Beowolf, probably attracted by his landing, scratching at the bottom of the tree, like a dog that had seen a squirrel.

' _I REALLY wish I wasn't the prey in that metaphor.'_ He really wasn't sure what to do.

Here he was, hanging at about 30-ish feet off the ground, his only attachment to the tree being the gun wedged into it, with a man-eating wolf demon looking like it was about to call its friends and tell them to ring the dinner bell. Or funeral bell, in Ichigo's case.

So, he went with the next dumbest idea that came to mind, drawing his katana. The Beowolf opened its… was it a snout or mouth? ' _Whatever, kill now, question later!'_ it prepared to howl, and Ichigo struck.

Well… it was more like gravity struck, but Ichigo instigated the action that lead to the wolf choking on a sword that had dropped down its throat and pierced its stomach, ending its life.

"Well that's issue number one fixed. Issue two, how do I get down from here…?" He just knew this was gonna be a very long day for him.

' **Well while you think about that, how about you assess your options on partners? We still haven't seen anyone and it's been a good while since you dropped in'** The Voice suggested, hoping Ichigo wouldn't catch on that he had been abandoned during his plight. It worked well enough, so the idea spitball rally began.

' _Ren and Nora are my easiest options, the two I've known the longest, and the two I can work best with, either would work'_

' **That leaves the issue of what happens to the one you don't get partnered with, though'**

' _Well, Ruby is nice, and definitely seems to know how to use that scythe of hers'_

' **If you'd payed any attention at all in the locker rooms then you'd know it seems like she doesn't have any teamwork experience.'**

' _Well if we're going by people in the order I met them then… Wiess?'_

' **As an option, she's difficult, her personality aside, you made an impression yesterday. The kind you tend to make where people don't like you much. People balance each other out, and it seems to me like she needs somebody who will balance out her attitude, and buddy, that ain't you'**

' _I was being sarcastic'_

' **Sarcasm doesn't suit ya, scowling does.'** Ichigo scowled.

' **See, told ya'** Ichigo really didn't see the point in continuing an argument like that, so continued with the verbal rallying while he tried to free himself.

' _Jaune?'_

' **Something is off about that kid, he's cowardly, doesn't seem like he'd be good in a fight at all, unless you're just lookin' for some cannon fodder'**

' _That was harsh, even by your standards'_

' **Oh boo-fucking-hoo he insulted my friend and now I'm gonna cry about it, buck up dumbass'**

Through growing irritation, Ichigo suggested _'Blake?'_

' **She's quiet, but that could mean discipline, others are outgoing, but she hides what's inside. Not a bad choice, but then again, none of them are necessarily bad choices'**

Glossing over the switch from psychotic to advising or even sagely, Ichigo addressed the only other option he knew, _'Yang?'_

' **Seems a bit hot-headed, looked a bit too ready to rush into a fight, like Nora.'**

' _You make it sound like she needs her own version of Ren to keep her from doing something stupid.'_

' **That's exactly what I'm saying, and you don't seem to do smart or thought out. Nor are you good at keeping your cool.'** Ichigo acknowledged that it was true, but only because hitting him wasn't an option and Ichigo knew the Voice could tell he was fuming at the comments thrown at him.

The thoughts on teammates continued, while unknown to Ichigo, another discussion regarding teams was going on back at Beacon cliff.

* * *

"Our last pair has been formed, sir." Glynda informed, walking towards Ozpin while looking at the tablet that held security footage live from the forest.

"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Honestly if I didn't know they were trained alongside one another under Masaki I'd be concerned about those two working together, polar opposite personalities and all. One concern would be the pair of Pyrhha Nikos and Jaune Arc. I don't care what his transcripts say; Mr Arc does not seem ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Glynda, we both know you didn't walk all the way back out here to inform me of information I could've just as easily checked myself. What is your concern?" Ozpin addressed the proverbial elephant in the room, already knowing what it would be. He knew that the other two Masaki had trained wouldn't be an issue, and he saw enough potential in Jaune Arc to overlook a few false details in his transcripts.

"Ichigo Kurosaki" Was all she said, leaving Ozpin to respond.

Ozpin knew that Ichigo was the only one to have not paired up, and thus the rules he had set at the start would dictate that Masaki's son, of all people, be the one unable to attend Beacon that year. Ozpin had his agreement with Masaki that Ichigo needed to be observed due to the… differences in his soul, primarily his inability to have his Aura unlocked. But for the terms of that agreement to be met on his part it required Ichigo attending Beacon.

Ozpin didn't want to hold a bias towards certain students, with Ruby Rose having been moved ahead two years for reasons unexplained and Jaune Arc even being let on Beacon grounds with no combat training whatsoever, Ozpin knew he was stepping on thin ice. So he responded.

"There is nothing I can do for Mr Kurosaki apart from watch events play out and act on them accordingly. There are exceptions to every rule, aren't there?" He looked over to Glynda, seeing her exasperated face at his continual bending of rules, and she could only ask.

"So what particular rules are you bending this time, sir?"

"I'm not bending any rules. After all, what would a humble headmaster such as myself be doing considering bending the rules of my own academy to accommodate somebody of interest?" He questioned, idly fiddling with what looked like a simple, silver ring. That was what it looked like at least, Glynda, however, knew otherwise.

"Sir, you requested that from Masaki purely for research purposes, using it for an event such as this would be highly irresponsible!" She knew not to question Ozpin, but using something like that to see what possible potential Masaki's son held while endangering the life of the boy who had no Aura, and that of the other students, was going too far in her mind.

Ozpin knew it might be going too far as well, but if there was one piece of research he always looked back to, it was an old account on the human soul. "The soul evolves the fastest when in danger of termination" he stated aloud. "This may be what can allow them to be stronger, and that might just be what this world needs right now, would you deny them that?"

"Theories and research have nothing to do with real world scenarios. If any of them die it will be on your head, sir." Glynda knew she could go against his seemingly reckless decisions all she wanted, but she also knew to trust in Ozpin. He had often said he made countless mistakes in his life, but she just wondered if in a few years looking back this would be one of them.

With nothing left stopping him, his plan set in stone, Ozpin shattered the ring between his fingers, also hoping this wouldn't be a mistake to add to a very long list. Masaki would kill him if it was.

* * *

 **Well, another week, another chapter out.**

 **And I still don't understand why stuff I've written gets this much support, with 185 favorites and 246 follows (and a very baffled author).**

 **Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for taking the time to tell me if you enjoy it in a review (or criticize it, because I still think I'm not a very good writer).**

 **Anyway, other things.**

 **So this chapter was written I think right after I finished the last chapter in a massive bout of writing inspiration, waiting to be published, but I feel like I think I'm doubting my own writing abilities here but I'm not sure this chapter (or the next one) are very good. But that's kind of a thing for you guys to decide and either tell me I'm wrong or completely agree and tell me how I could do better.**

 **Mostly setup for Emerald Forest, with my own little twist at the end :D Not much else to say apart from that.**

 **I've probably annoyed some people with the instant realization that Ichigo isn't getting an OC team or isn't getting a team of Bleach characters, meaning he will end up on an already existing team. Not elaborating more than that.**

 **I think I came up with the Ozpin section at the end when I had looked through this chapter and thought it was boring, frankly.**

 **I really can't think of anything else to say except thanks for the support and leave a review if you feel like it, Emerald Forest is written, with Players and Pieces being the next chapter to write.**

 **I've got nothing else I can think of saying, except I need another way to convince myself not to do homework.**

 **See ya next time :D**


	11. The Emerald Forest

**Blah, blah blah, disclaimer nonsense. Don't own anything, just watched the first episode of Volume 5 and it demands that I start writing. Well that and the fact that you guys have given this story enough love that it's almost on the first page if you sort by favourites and include all stories.**

 **Anyway, the rambling is meant for the AN at the end of the chapter, so I'm gonna shut up now.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 4: The Emerald Forest**

* * *

The Beacon initiation went on.

Unknown to the students.

Unknown to the teachers.

Unknown to the creatures within the forest.

In the sky above the Emerald Forest, a crack appeared.

* * *

"Really should've stopped to think of a landing strategy before being launched." Ichigo drawled out, pretty pissed at his lack of luck in the process of y'know. _Removing the barrel of his gun from a tree._

' **And that is the kind of forethought anybody but you would've had, dumbass'** Ichigo had gotten beyond irritated at the Voice, and at his lack of progress in the last… 20 minutes? He was guessing, its not like he had a watch.

Of course, one would think removing something from a tree would be easy enough. But when the object stuck in the tree is your only foothold and you're a couple dozen feet up in the air. Yeah, that's when issues come in.

"Great, at this rate I'm going to end up being the last back because of this god forsaken fucking tree!" He had really reached the end of his patience. Well, he reached the end of it about twenty minutes ago, and was just getting round to venting about it now. He had a _very_ short temper sometimes.

Well, he at least thought himself lucky that nothing had shown up trying to put him on a menu since the Beowolf around the time he landed. And he was _really_ getting sick of this tree. The 'stupid idea time' point of aggravation.

"Well here goes nothing" ' _Or everything'_ were his only thoughts as he threw the gentle approach out of the window… and proceeded to put all of his strength into pulling the lodged weapon out of the tree.

' **You are goddamn fucking suicidal.'** The Voice had gotten bored of mocking him by that point, but was too irritated to notice Ichigo probably about to drop himself to his death. So he was only left to feel more irritated at him, and idly hope that he had a plan.

Of course, they both felt stupid when Ichigo's plan actually worked, surprisingly. As he pulled the blade out he stabbed it back into the tree as much as he could, using his own body weight to push the sword down through the tree, leaving a scar of cut and splintered wood going down the tree, until finally reaching the ground.

' **You coulda done that… From the fucking start!'**

' _Angry doesn't suit ya, mocking does'_ Ichigo felt prideful after something went his way, so he just knew he had to mock the probable hallucination with its own words.

' _Well I guess that shut you up, and at least it looks like smooth sailing from here, the area is pretty clear'_ that was another thing for him to feel prideful of, shutting the Voice up, and as he was finally out of that tree he could go looking for the temple, and hope he hadn't taken too long. Or at least he would've, had the Voice not alerted him to nearby presences.

' **Ya had to fuckin' jinx us, didn't ya?'** And there was the mocking Ichigo had become so accustomed to. The crowd of Hollows that seemed to accompany it though, he didn't want to become used to.

Three Hollows. A spider, a monkey and a bull. Seemed easy enough as long as you didn't count the fact that they all looked ready to eat whatever came near them, and said thing near them was an Aura-less huntsman in training.

Wordlessly, Ichigo pulled his sword from the ground where it had been earlier embedded, before taking up his stance and waiting for the creatures to make the first move.

' _So we've got Hollows'_ Ichigo had encountered a Hollows before, and the creatures tended to fit into either one of two categories. They either were weaker, but acted with other Hollows like a horde to overwhelm their prey. They tended to act more like weaker Grimm did. Or they were in the category the Hollows in front of him would belong to.

' **Big, ugly-ass fuckers?'**

Bigger than their weaker brethren, these Hollows tended to be smarter, always fighting to survive, whether that be against Man or themselves. If compared to a regular Grimm they could be likened to Ursa, possible to be beaten by even a huntsman in training, although Hollows were never to be judged by looks alone due to their ability to devour souls to gain strength, but they were seen as being there to fill the gap between weaker hollows and Gillians. But because of that tendency to fight other Hollows they were rarely seen in groups, leaving Ichigo wondering why there were three facing him at once.

The bull Hollow charged, pulling him from his thoughts. He jumped to the side to avoid the Hollow, before it broke _through_ the tree he had spent the better third of an hour trying to get down from.

Ichigo charged the monkey, and as he entered its range its tail slammed down towards him, once again forcing him to dodge. He was in range now. Pulling Midnight out in his left hand he started firing at the creature, trying to force it down.

' **At least monkey-monster doesn't seem like it likes to climb'**

The Hollow dodged out of the way, taking the brunt of a few shots, which at least left some kind of damage, as seen by the wounds on the creature's hide.

The monkey spun around, before bringing its fist around, forcing Ichigo to pull his sword and gun up to guard, being pushed to the side. A moment more and Ichigo knew he would've been launched, and that attack was straining his arm as it was.

' **Dodge!'**

Diving to the side as a leg appeared where he stood, Ichigo glanced to the side to see the spider Hollow finally involving itself in the fight. Ichigo brought his sword around and slashed at the monkey Hollow's leg, leaving a decently sized gash and causing it to cry out in pain. Capitalising on it before it would recover; Ichigo fired several shots at its face, blinding and causing damage to it while Ichigo brought his sword up in an overhead slash, preparing to bisect the Hollow from the head downward.

It brought its hand up and caught the sword as it scratched the surface of its mask.

Its tail swung round, aiming to slam into Ichigo, pinning him long enough for the less active spider Hollow to kill him.

It would've, had he not fired Midnight's blade through the Hollow's skull, killing it, allowing him to tear his sword free to block the first (of eight) legs belonging to the arachnid Hollow. He dived to the side as two other legs joined it, spinning around and cutting off the first leg ' _one_ '.

It cried out in pain, turning and trying to spit _something_ corrosive on him, and in the second he had to decide where to dodge, he ran towards the Hollow, cutting off a second leg, much like he did the first ' _two_ ' and using Midnight's blade to take off another leg in a similar fashion ' _three, he won't be standing for long_ '

It cried out, pouncing towards him, and Ichigo was confident that was the last move the Hollow would make. Then it hit him.

It, of course, being the Bull from earlier, forgotten in his battle against the two remaining Hollows. It slammed him into a tree and Ichigo thought he heard something crack, but the adrenaline was keeping his mind off of it.

The bull brought one of its horns around, aiming to stab Ichigo while he was downed, and it would've succeeded was it not for the gunfire pelting its side taking its attention away from its original prey.

Ichigo thanked whatever divine entity that existed for Ren and Nora's perfect timing.

"About damn time" he smiled out, remembering that this initiation wasn't about fighting alone, and he always fought better with his friends around.

"Well you never gave us a time to show up so I thought we should wander for a bit, then Mr Bull over there started stampeding and making noise" Nora was being humorous, because chances of winning were pretty low… For the Hollows, of course.

Standing up, wincing slightly at the pain, getting a worried glance from Ren, who had managed to evade the bull and cause it to charge off for a short while, causing Ichigo to simply state "I'm fine, it's just a scratch" he knew his friends worried for him, but he knew the risks and so did they, and they trusted him.

"Got a plan?" Ren knew Ichigo occasionally had his sparks for planning in his mind, he was no tactician but he could think on the move.

"Spider's down three legs, and the bull can be beaten as long as you dodge its charges, problem is it has a thick hide. Take out another couple of legs and the spider won't move at all. As for the bull we just need to stop it moving long enough to find a weak spot and take it out." He was blunt and to the point, and that was what they needed in the middle of a fight.

"Nora, can you cover us while we take out the legs? Distract the bull when it gets back" Ichigo knew it would be easier for bladed weapons to remove the limbs from the spider, and that left Nora open to end it once the legs were gone.

"Gotcha, now let's do this!" She was grinning at the prospect of fighting alongside her friends again.

Ichigo charged forward, firing Midnight while he flanked to the left, while Ren did the same with StormFlower on the right. Possibly out of anger at the loss of its first three legs it attacked Ichigo, leaving Ren open to remove another limb with StormFlower.

' **That makes half – acid spit'** the Voice had cut itself of its own statement, forcing Ichigo to dive once again, and when the Hollow once again turning on him it was hit in the back by Nora's grenades, distracting it long enough for Ichigo and Ren to both take off a leg individually.

' **Six outta eight is good enough, end this guy and we can get onto captain bull-shittery'** Ichigo really wished the Voice didn't have to voice its own sense of humour so much, puns were _evil_.

Ichigo watched as Nora ran in, raising Magnhild before slamming the Hollow's head into the dirt, killing it. And then the bull made its grand reappearance, charging back in towards Ichigo, who instead of the last time was prepared, bringing Midnight up to hold his own against the force of the bull. Barely, because he was still being forced backward. Looking over to Ren, who understood the look, charging at the Hollow while firing off his weapon before stabbing into it with StormFlower.

"My blades don't go far enough!" In response, Ichigo freed a hand for a second, allowing the bull to gain ground, before throwing his sword out to Ren. "Use that! Get the head!" Ren responded by jumping onto the bull and trying to find an exposed spot to decapitate the Hollow.

"Ren, I'm not rushing you but I am wrestling with a fucking bull right now and I could really use a break!" Ichigo was nearing the end of his ability to hold it back.

"Found it!" Ren stabbed the blade in, unfortunately alerting the bull that running down the teen in front of it shouldn't have been top priority, leading to it shaking around and launching Ren off.

"I've got it!" Shouted Nora as she jumped up and grabbed the sword, digging it in further.

Unfortunately, with the blade lodged deep into its skin, survival instincts kicked in and the bull charged off, being ridden by a… ecstatic Nora who seemed to be enjoying herself, while Ichigo and Ren were left to watch on, before realising they really needed to catch up with their friend, and Ichigo wanted his sword back. Thus began the weirdest chase Ichigo had ever been involved in, including when Nora got her hands on caffeine.

* * *

About eight minutes of chasing after Nora, who seemed to enjoy riding a Hollow of all things _way_ too much, Ren had finally managed (through much shouting and nearly collapsing from exhaustion at all the running) to convince Nora to stop and actually kill the Hollow.

Of course, her attempts were made somewhat more difficult while the Hollow was smashing through trees and nearly knocking her off.

It had taken a few more minutes before the bull had finally dashed into a clearing, with Ichigo and Ren in pursuit, before Nora managed to finally stop it through cries of "Yee-Haw!" while she slammed her hammer into the hilt of Ichigo's sword, burying it through the bull's neck, causing it to lose momentum before skidding to a stop in the ground, dead.

"Aw, it's broken" came the disappointed response from Nora to her rides death while she jumped around it, poking at it.

"Nora – he stopped to catch his breath – please don't ever do that again" was Ren's response, ready to collapse at all the running and shouting, while Ichigo wandered over to where his sword had been buried in the ground, retrieving it.

' **Damn she can swing that hammer, I'd hate to be the unlucky sucker on the receiving end of _that_ '** Ichigo wondered why the Voice couldn't just make up its mind, could it be agreeable or piss him off and not do both?

' **That'd be no fun and you know it'** and the mental image of a grin was back. Great.

Idly, he looked up and wandered over to where Yang and Blake were. Frankly he was distracted between symptoms of insanity and his eccentric friend so he hadn't even noticed they were there or that they seemed to be at some sort of ruin.

"Yo" was all he said, feeling mentally drained by the day so far.

That was when Nora started running around putting a chess piece over herself, generally confusing Ichigo, who was sometimes glad he didn't know what went on in his friend's head.

"Did that girl just ride in on a Hollow, with you and your friend chasing her?" Blake was blunt and to the point, and Ichigo idly noted Yang generally looking confused, moving her arms about like she was trying to form a question but wasn't able to.

"Yep. And Yang, don't question it, believe me I've tried and it only hurts my brain. So how's the initiation going so far for you guys?" He was used to people questioning Nora, frankly because he still did, too. So he knew how to help people past the first stages of sanity questioning that came to dealing with his friend.

"A few Ursa, some Beowolves, nothing major. Though we've run into a few Hollows, which doesn't seem normal for a place so lacking in people." Ichigo had wondered the same thing. Hollows didn't usually appear out in the wilderness often because they generally ended up somewhere near human life, and they hadn't been in the forest long enough to attract this many. If what Blake had said was true, then something must've attracted more Hollows than would've been normal to the forest.

' **Plotting bastard.'** The Voice grumbled in his mind.

' _What?'_

' **Nothing for ya to be concerned of, now – '** The Voice was cut off.

Cut off by the appearance of a red haired girl wearing what looked like some kind of bronze clothing reminiscent of armour, though Ichigo couldn't really tell, as he was more distracted by the giant Deathstalker, a giant scorpion-like Grimm, chasing her.

Ichigo pulled out his gun, in the back of his mind wondering why everybody was just standing around doing nothing, while the red haired girl yelled "Jaune!" and that confirmed to Ichigo who her partner was, and he recognised somewhere in his mind that he still didn't have a partner.

Before that train of thought could go anywhere, Ruby jumped down to where Ichigo and the others were standing, though he only really noticed because of Yang's exclamation of "Ruby!" followed by Ruby exclaiming Yang's name and the two going to hug.

And then they were immediately disrupted by Nora popping up in the middle **'Can this girl teleport or some shit?!'** and exclaiming her own name, like it was some sort of game, which to Nora, it might've been.

Of course, between the arrival of Ichigo, Ren and Nora, the appearance of Ruby and the chase between the red haired girl and the Deathstalker, Yang looked like her mind was about to break, with Nora doing a little dance next to her, imitating the twitching Yang seemed to be doing.

"Did that girl just run _all_ the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake's deadpan approach to the scenario didn't seem to help at all.

' **Jeez shut her up before Blondie explodes – no wait, keep her talking and see if Blondie explodes!'** Ichigo wished he had gone to a psychologist or doctor or _somebody_ beforehand so he could diagnose what the hell the Voice in his head that didn't shut up was.

' **Awesome. That's what'**

' _Bastard'_

The insult volley would've continued, had Yang not actually exploded into flames, eyes burning red, causing Ichigo to take a step back in fear of actually getting burned.

' **Meh, four outta ten, piss her off some more and see if we can make schmores.'**

' _Shut the hell up. PLEASE!'_ He was almost in the same boat as Yang, except he couldn't explode into flames, and the cause of his issues was a Voice in his head.

"I can't take it anymore! Can everybody chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" Listening to Yang venting, or anything really, helped keep his mind off of, well, his mind.

But, it seemed the Voice had at least had an effect on him over the years, as he couldn't resist leaning over towards Ren and Blake (who were the closest to him as they had all stood in some sort of line) after Yang's statement before simply saying "One. Two."

Blake looked at him in confusion, while Ren knew Ichigo might've just been trying to make the situation a bit lighter hearted. Although Ichigo rarely did that seeing as he was generally the scowling one.

As the impromptu two second timer from Ichigo ended, Ruby started to speak "Um, Yang?" Inwardly, Ichigo thought Yang might've known she had jinxed herself as she looked down in annoyance, while Ruby pointed upwards, causing them all to look up.

Only to see a giant Nevermore, with a figure attached to one of the talons that looked to be covered in enough of the colour white for Ichigo to instantly know who it was.

"Points for creativity, but was that really the best idea?" He heard Weiss yelling in the background, whether to get them to hear her or because of the wind he wouldn't know, although it was probably both.

"I said jump." Ruby justified, both to Ichigo and the others present, and to Weiss herself.

"She's gonna fall." Blake said, though she sounded insincere. It wasn't as if she didn't care if the Schnee heiress died, but years in the White Fang that trained prejudice against humans in general, and the actions of the SDC, made it hard to sound truly considerate. Or she was just having the kind of day where everything sounded like a deadpan statement.

"She'll be fine." Ruby hoped as much, at least.

' **Wanna make a betting pool on if she'll die and how?'**

' _Not the time. Seriously, there is never a good time for a proposition like that.'_

"She's falling." And it seemed that Ren had fallen into the pattern of blunt response. Although it was really just him, Ichigo and Blake that seemed to adhere to said pattern.

"So, somebody gonna catch her or are we just gonna stand here and watch someone fall to their death?" Ichigo questioned, still wondering why they were all standing there instead of either catching the falling heiress or helping the red haired girl who was still being chased around by the Deathstalker.

Of course, as if to answer Ichigo's question, Jaune dived in, trying to catch Weiss. Before physics kicked in and it kicked _hard_.

And that was about the time the red haired girl (he seriously needed a name, because he of all people knew that identifying someone by their hair colour got annoying. Fast.) dived onto the ground in front of them, having finally managed to outrun the Deathstalker.

"Great, the gang's all here, now we can all die together!" Ichigo realised Yang was the kind to use her sense of humour in a bad situation to help everybody feel better. Although it seemed her sister didn't 'get' sarcasm as her response was "Not if I can help it" before charging out against the Deathstalker. Alone.

' **Wow. I think ya've been topped on stupidity for the day. So why are ya still standing there, dumbass?'** The seemed to be the slap in the face (or mind) that it took for Ichigo to finally start moving again.

Ichigo ran after Ruby, and that also seemed to kick Yang's mind into gear as she too ran out after the other two teens.

That was when the Nevermore circled back around and launched a hail of giant feathers down on them, pinning Ruby's cloak to the ground, and stopping Yang. Ichigo had managed to jump out of the way and was still running, pumping all he could into running to save his friend, ignoring everything else.

When the Deathstalker's stinger came down to strike, Ichigo knew he wasn't fast enough, so he did the only thing that came to mind, and much like how he started the initiation after entering the forest, put all his strength into throwing his sword.

' **Luckily it seems somebody else snapped out of the 'let's just stare moment''**

A white blur rushed past him, followed by a wall of ice, pinning the stinger in place.

The blur was identified afterwards as Weiss, Ichigo realised, as he proceeded to head back to the others, letting the two partners talk, before Yang hugged Ruby in relief at her not getting herself killed.

' **Today, a victim has been saved from the killer of all. Stupidity.'** Even Ichigo couldn't stifle the chuckle at that.

' **That's it? C'mon, I expect applause ya ungrateful bastard'**

' _Fuck you too.'_

After Ruby had finished talking to Weiss, she ventured a glance around the wall of ice, only to see the struggling Deathstalker, with the Katana embedded in the top of its carapace.

"Woah" was all she could mutter.

* * *

 **Well. In case anybody is questioning that I just watched the first episode of Volume 5 it's because that was when I started writing this chapter, and at current time I've already written the next chapter.**

 **One of these days I'll stop putting sappy appreciative comments in the Author's Notes, but that day is not today. You guys actually put this story on the front page (in case you're confused I'm talking about even if you include all 92 stories in this section). Not to mention that we're nearing 300 follows as well. And - blah blah blah usual never expected my writing to get this many follows and stuff nonsense that you've been hearing for the last TEN chapters.**

 **Anyway, this chapter was another I was unsure about so I'm not sure how well you guys'll take it but I was unsure about the last chapter and you guys didn't have many issues with that. Bits of humor with the Voice and my first actual attempt at a fight scene in this story - tell me how that went. I'm not sure there is much else to comment on, apart from copying and pasting the words "Thank you" for each and every person reading who thinks this is actually decent.**

 **Usual schedule, next chapter is already written and will be up in a week, see ya next time :D.**

 **PS. Also for those questioning the ring Ozpin had in the last chapter rewatch Bleach episode 12, although I don't doubt that most of you already know what it is.**


	12. Players and Pieces

**Y'Know, writing ANs are starting to get complicated with the fact I write chapters beforehand. At the time of starting this chapter I watched Volume 5 Episode 2 two yesterday. By the time of finishing this chapter, I'll have seen episode 3 and will be a few days away from episode 4. Makes commenting on things weird**

 **Anyway, Carl! On with the disclaimer**

" **TheTechnoMage doesn't own Bleach or RWBY, If he did… wait, who the fuck are you?"**

 **I don't know, who are you?**

" **I don't know"**

 **I do, you're a figment of my imagination created for this AN.**

 **And he stopped existing, shit. Really need to make up more imaginary people to talk to.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 5: Players and Pieces**

* * *

The crack expanded, spreading into a web of cracks, ready to burst open.

Soon.

* * *

Ichigo and co. had regrouped back over by the 'temple' after Ruby's near death experience and Ichigo losing his sword. _Again._

' **Fuckin hell do we have to strap this thing to ya forehead or something? God you'd be like a narwhale of death. A very stupid narwhale of death that managed to lose its horn'**

' _Is this really the time for stupid analogies?'_

' **It's always the time for stupid analogies'**

"Guys, that thing is circling back around, what are we gonna do?" Jaune was the one to snap Ichigo out of his conversation, and he acknowledged that he really needed to stop stopping to talk to the Voice in life or death scenarios a whole lot less, for his own sake and the sake of others.

Ichigo knew he was no tactician, but chose to weigh out their options.

They could stay and fight, with nine trainee huntsmen against a giant Deathstalker and an equally giant Nevermore. Most of the fighters present seemed competent enough to cover their own, Pyrrha had managed to outrun the Deathstalker all the way to the ruins and keep it distracted while everybody grouped up. Ichigo had seen how skilled Ruby was with her scythe, but it definitely didn't do much against the Deathstalker alone.

He hadn't seen Blake or Yang fight yet, so he had no basis to go on. The same went for Jaune, although even the Voice's comments seemed to state that Jaune didn't carry himself like the others did. But it really wasn't the time to judge a fighter based on something like that, best to save it when they'd be learning at the academy and not trying to survive the initiation. All the fighting he had seen Weiss do was saving Ruby, but the use of Dust in the way the heiress had utilised it would definitely help. All that left was Ren and Nora, whose capabilities Ichigo knew. All in all they had decent chances of taking on the Grimm, provided they all worked together. The downside to that plan would be the chance that commotion would lure out more Grimm or possibly the over abundant Hollows that seemed to be present in the Emerald Forest, which would damage their chances of success.

The other option to consider was fleeing, which meant having to outrun a Nevermore, which had the sky advantage, and a Deathstalker that could break through the trees like toothpicks. The advantage of fleeing would possibly remove the chance of resistance on the return to Beacon cliff and eliminate the chance of potential injuries, but it was definitely more risky.

' **Lucky it ain't your call'** Ichigo realised that once again distracted by his musings Weiss had begun speaking.

"Look, there is no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." That was fair enough.

"She's right, our mission is to grab an artefact and make it up to the cliffs, there's no point in fighting these things." Ichigo saw the reason in it and knew it would be a better choice at the time to go back to the cliffs, although he didn't miss the smile and nod of affirmation from Weiss to her partner as Ruby justified her statement.

' **Since when does there need to be a point in fighting?'**

"Run and live, that is an idea I can get behind." Jaune agreed with Ruby, glad to not have to fight the giant Grimm.

' _I can't tell if he was being humorous or-.'_

' **Showing cowardice? Never thought ya would doubt ya friends'**

Ichigo chose not to reply to that comment, because Jaune's demeanour did bug him slightly. His attitude seemed kind of out of place for an academy that trained warriors, but it wasn't the time for Ichigo to lose himself in thought again.

Ruby and Jaune both went to grab chess pieces, and when Ren looked over, he realised something.

"Ichigo." He spoke aloud, surprising a few of the teens (some of which had forgotten he was there).

"You… don't have a partner, and there aren't any more chess pieces." As he said this, Ichigo felt the stares on him from those around him, who also knew that the person who didn't have a partner or retrieve an artefact wouldn't attend Beacon.

"I know Ren, but this isn't the time -." Ichigo was cút off by Ren holding out his hand, in it the chess piece Nora had picked up earlier, looking over to Nora Ichigo could see the look on her face to, the kind willing to do something for a friend, and he had only one response to that.

"No way in hell." He was blunt, but there was no way he was cheating his friends out of their chance to go to Beacon. He didn't get a partner, they did. He didn't get a chess piece, they did. They had earned their place and he hadn't, and he wasn't in a place to take that chance from them, given willingly or not.

' **Some things never change, do they?'** The Voice sounded sombre, and like it wasn't really talking to Ichigo, and he chose not to respond.

"This ain't the time to cry because a friend isn't going to school with you or some kiddy shit like that, so worry about it later, these things are here _now_. This isn't about the test; this is about surviving, simple as that. So let's go."

He could see the stares of understanding and in some places, respect, from his friends? He guessed he could call them that now, or at least he'd be able to after they all survived this, because they would. No matter what.

Once again brought back to reality by the sight of the ice wall holding the Deathstalker cracking, Ren stated aloud "Time we left!" He knew what Beacon meant to his friend, so he was going to see it through.

"Right, let's go" Ruby agreed, as the teens headed off away from the ruins, towards another section of the forest.

Yang had stopped, watching her younger sister lead other teens, watching on like the proud older sibling she felt like, stopped in her thoughts by Blake's question of "What is it?"

She could only answer in "Nothing" because not much could describe how it felt watching her little sister grow up a bit.

"Probably gonna guess it's a sibling thing" Ichigo chose to spitball, getting a look from Blake, although he didn't know what, it was probably about what he said before or the fact he couldn't attend Beacon and he didn't want to see his friends pity him for it.

"Something like that, anyway, let's go!" Yang's attitude had turned back into her usual fiery one by the end of the statement, and the teens rushed on to catch up with the others.

* * *

The teens had run through the forest and into a larger clearing, covered in similar ruins to the so called temple from earlier. _'If that was a temple then I live in a museum'_

The Nevermore had taken a perch on ruins suspended over a chasm, blocking them off from the cliff face, which would've been their next possible choice of escape. Although the Emerald Forest was surrounded by cliffs, and Ichigo's sense of direction was telling him that they were in the wrong place.

Of course, once the Nevermore had blocked their path, the teens had split off to avoid more fire from the air, leading Ichigo into thinking they could double back to lose the Nevermore.

Before he could voice said thoughts however, the Deathstalker broke through the trees.

' _So did I jinx us or did someone else do it?'_

' **Who knows? But ya do have a track record for it, so I'm gonna blame ya pre-emptively'**

' _That's reassuring'_

The reappearance of the Deathstalker had led to the teens breaking off towards the temple while the Nevermore sent off another volley of feathers, forcing Ichigo to duck into a roll lest he be beheaded.

His chances of decapitation via feather however, were significantly lessened by Nora's grenades making successful hits on the 'overgrown pigeon' as the Voice had dubbed it, making Ichigo glad he wasn't alone.

The Nevermore was forced to fly off in another direction, but Ichigo knew it would circle back around. It might've helped if Ruby and Weiss hadn't pissed it off by hitching a ride on it. Thoughts for later, however, as Ichigo ran forward, back towards the Deathstalker when it tried to attack Nora. When its claws came down it was struck from both directions by Blake and Ren, leaving Ichigo to follow up by jumping and ramming Midnight's blade into another eye.

' _Oh, that's where my sword ended up'_

' **You really didn't think about where it landed when you threw it?!'** Even the Voice was surprised, though managing to land it in the Deathstalker's eye from the distance Ichigo did was undoubtedly pure luck, and Ichigo only knew it had hit the Deathstalker.

' _That's two outta ten'_

' **We're playing the counting game again!?'**

' _I have no Aura, and apart from the underbelly, which we can't reach I don't see another way to hurt this thing'_

' **Huh, well it's a better thought than 'hit it till it dies' so I guess we're good there'**

Ichigo jumped off its back, otherwise he would've been hit by the swinging stinger, which really didn't look like a good way to die. He joined Ren and Blake in running towards the chasm, hoping to lose the Deathstalker as it wouldn't be able to get onto the bridge.

He stopped, along with Ren, to turn back and fire against the Deathstalker, giving Blake time to reach the bridge as they turned and ran along it. The plan (more of a unanimous idea everybody silently agreed to) seemed to be working, until the Nevermore came crashing through the bridge, separating the group into two. That left Ichigo, Ren, Blake and Pyrrha to fire their individual weapons against the Grimm, who luckily wasn't able to get onto the bridge, giving them a bit of distance.

Unfortunately, the thing had a tough carapace, as shown when yet another fire dust round left little more than a scorch mark. The issue with ranged weaponry was noticed by all as Blake tried to use her weapon to instead slash at the Grimm, only to be knocked back.

Ichigo didn't stop firing as he called out "You okay?" to which he got a grunt of affirmation, probably to be expected from somebody who just got knocked on their ass by an oversized scorpion.

His firing was interrupted by a call from the other side of the bridge, easily known as Nora, simply stating "Ichigo! Just like the Bull!" He knew what she meant, running forward while ducking a claw, jumping onto the Grimm and trying to push his katana in with all his strength, it sunk in another few inches, identifiable by the screams of pain from the scorpion Grimm.

His job done, Ichigo yelled "Ready!" and promptly got the hell off of that Grimm, somewhat pitying the pain it was about to feel.

His call was promptly responded to by the flying hammer wielding girl who slammed Magnhild down onto the sword, further burying it into the carapace. Unfortunately before the sword could be forced in enough to be a killing blow the stinger came down, forcing Nora to fire her grenade launcher, launching herself back across the bridge, accidentally knocking Blake into the chasm.

' **Look away and you die!'** The Voice stopped anything Ichigo would do, demanding he listen and obey, glancing to the side he was aware of his friend's safety when she was seen fighting alongside the other group of his friends.

Unfortunately the stinger destabilised the section of bridge they stood on when it was removed, leading to Jaune's order of "We gotta move!" Ichigo noticed that the boy seemed more like he belonged right now than he ever did before. They ran up the bridge as gravity kicked in, forcing the section of the bridge they stood on into the chasm. Pyrrha blocked the first claw to come at them, turning and using the momentum to jab out another eye, leading to the Grimm attacking with its other claw, for it to be blocked by Jaune, allowing Pyrrha to jump and use her weapons to knock it back.

Ren ran forward, firing on the Deathstalker, with Ichigo following close behind. When its stinger came down again Ren grabbed on, firing into the joint while Ichigo jumped onto the back, jamming Midnight into another eye before roughly pulling the trigger **'Four!'** and swinging it around to jam the blade into another **'Five!'**

While this happened, Nora used her grenade launcher to rain down covering fire when the Grimm retaliated against Jaune and Pyrrha, after which Pyrrha launched her javelin into another eye **'Six!'** causing the scorpion to jerk its tail back, launching Ren, leading to a worried cry from Nora.

The scorpion then roughly swung its stinger down towards Ichigo, who ducked down, with his shoulder being cut by the stinger, before yelling out in rage and amputating the stinger with Midnight's blade.

Jaune watched as his friends fought, thinking the battle through, before an opportunity presented itself when the stinger was lost, before he looked over to someone he hoped he could call a friend, "Nora nail it!" to which Pyrrha used her shield to boost Nora up before she used the momentum from her grenade launcher to launch herself back down, slamming Ichigo's sword through the Deathstalker, before said teen grabbed the sword out of the dissolving Grimm, joining his friends in getting off of the collapsing bridge.

' **That just killed it. And made taking out most of its eyes completely pointless, dumbass'** The Voice deadpanned.

"You good buddy?" Ichigo questioned on seeing Ren looking ready to collapse, although his Aura had shielded him when he slammed into the wall after being launched.

"Good… tired… falling now." To which Ren promptly collapsed.

"Good enough." Ichigo said, sitting down as well. He looked over to see the rest of their group taking on the Nevermore, but wasn't as concerned as he was as exhausted as Ren. Not having Aura and being through that level of combat would do that to you.

If his friends' watching in awe was anything to go by, the rest of their group was faring well against the Nevermore, but it had stopped being a concern to him, as fatigue of the day caught up and welcomed him into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

He awoke.

The world wasn't the same.

The vibrant grass along with the ground it grew on had dyed into monotone, almost black. Looking around, everything had dyed into darker colours, with what things once were just about identifiable by the shapes within the darkness.

He looked over to his friends.

Instead he saw human outlines. A bright glowing white. A vivid pink. A powerful red. And a calm pink. This was some kind of dream, what the hell was going on? He tried to call out.

' **Anyone here?!'**

Only to hear a voice that was not his own. He looked at his hands, dyed or what seemed to be more bleached white, the nails colour inversed into the darkest of blacks.

He was dreaming, this was some sort of dream, looking over more shapes seemed to join the earlier colours. A smaller, more innocent red. Another white, clearer than the last, but not shining as bright as the first. A calm purple, filled with conviction. And a raging yellow, as if its entire being was burning.

What was he seeing?

He turned, and saw… himself?

The only clear image in the entire monotone world, was his body slumped at a broken pillar.

A roar broke his thoughts before the shock could render.

It came from above.

Looking up, he saw _it_.

The wave of cracks in the sky, violent and promising death, coloured black, the same black as the creatures of darkness that promised the death of all.

A hand broke through the crack.

He awoke.

* * *

"Well that was a thing, I guess." Yang stated lamely upon managing to cross the ruined bridge with her friends to re-join the others so they could head back to Beacon cliff. It really would've been more convenient if the cliff Ruby had dragged a Nevermore all the way up was on the right side of the forest.

"Yang, you already said that." Weiss said, wondering why the girl felt the need to repeat herself.

"Well it was, wasn't it? Saying it was a thing more than once doesn't make it any less of a thing."

"I think she means the joke was only funny the first time." Blake explained, still figuring her partner felt like sharing the other teens in on the joke, although only four of them seemed to still be present, leading her to wondering where Ichigo was. Although the youngest among them voiced her thoughts first.

"Hey, where'd Ichigo, well, go?" Ruby was frankly surprised Yang hadn't made a pun about that yet, but Ren was the first to answer.

"He's resting by to the pillar behind you." He figured his friend would've passed out, Ren was low on stamina for a huntsman in training, but he had Aura, Ichigo didn't have Aura but instead had sheer willpower to keep him going in situations like this, although it didn't change the fact that they'd spent the entire day in the forest fighting off monsters and frankly, Ichigo was lucky to only get off with the scrape over his shoulder, although Ren had already taken to covering the wound while his friend slept.

"Is sleeping on the sight of a battlefield really the best idea?" Weiss was exasperated by her classmates' (and technically the one who would leave Beacon after this initiation) unorthodox methods and what seemed like general craziness/ weirdness / general insanity.

"He needs it, it's not like he has Aura to keep him going." Nora stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world, forgetting that part about Ichigo usually took some explaining.

"He what?" Weiss stated dumbly, it had been a long day and it seemed like her capability to be surprised had disappeared.

"Ichigo is probably one of the few huntsmen in training incapable of having his Aura unlocked." Ren explained, but chose not to divulge any of the details (which they really didn't have) as to why Ichigo was incapable of shielding himself using his soul.

Of course, the conversation may have continued, possibly on the journey back to Beacon cliff, had the subject of their conversation not suddenly awakened, surprising them all, not by his sudden energy, but by his statement upon awakening.

"We need to move. Now!" He knew he was yelling, but he was still reeling from that dream and if what he saw was real then they needed to get the hell outta dodge _right fucking now_.

"Calm down, what are you talking about?" Pyrrha was the first to take a reasonable approach to the teen that had just awoken looking like he had stared down death.

"That." He had to breathe to settle himself, both out of fear of what he saw and the entire dream he had. As he spoke he pointed up to the now visible web of cracks expanding throughout the sky, before they folded back as a hand reached through, tearing them open.

Ichigo's blood ran cold.

"We need to move before we all turn into fucking Gillian snacks." His mother had trained him to keep his cool, but once more he remembered that training scenarios didn't teach you for the real thing.

Pyrrha was the first to recover, having probably been in more fights than any of the other teens present, though not against a foe of this size. Gillians may have been at a level of a regular trained huntsman but their size alone made them intimidating foes, and although hailed as a champion even she hadn't fought one before. "We need to get to cover." She was calm and collected, and the others around her listened as they scattered towards the pillars they had used to cover from the Nevermore.

Once the teens had retreated behind cover, they could only watch as the ever expanding wave of cracks opened to reveal what most students were told a Gillian typically looked like.

Black cloth covered body. Check.

Huge ass hole you could probably fit a circus through. Check.

Spikes. Check.

Ugly ass mask with the stupidest and most impractical looking nose in existence. Surprisingly, check. Ichigo seriously thought his mother had drawn those on examples of Gillian as a joke.

"What are we meant to do against something like that?!" Jaune whisper shouted, unsure whether the newest predator in the Emerald Forest knew of their presence.

"We flee, Grimm are one thing but Gillians are only meant to be fought by trained huntsmen, not academy students." Weiss knew how well the fleeing card went for them before, but they had a chance of defeating the Deathstalker and Nevermore, a Gillian was a whole different story.

"I agree, the headmaster said that faculty wouldn't get involved but for a situation like a Menos class Hollow they would have to do something." Pyrrha knew stuff like this, because she had to as she was trained to keep up a reputation of being the best.

"So we're running again?" Yang surmised.

"Yes, we don't know what kind of damage that thing could do to us." _Some more than others._ Blake kept that thought to herself, looking over to Ichigo. She wondered how he knew about the Menos before any of the others but it could be because he saw it upon waking up.

They didn't see it but they heard it.

The blast was quick and the teens scattered as the ruins they had hidden behind came crashing down into nothing more than rubble and ash.

* * *

He was already running. Like a coward.

He watched on as they tried to fight it, but unlike the Nevermore and Deathstalker co-ordination alone wouldn't be enough to kill a Gillian without the trust built up over many battles, they wouldn't be able to co-ordinate without knowing each other's every strength and shortcoming.

He was a coward who wasn't able to do anything. He told them of the Gillian, so what? It still came and they'd die before help would arrive.

Once again he realised combat training never prepared you for real scenarios.

' **Tch. You really are fucking pathetic, an insult wearing** _ **his**_ **name. You're no king. Hell you aren't even a horse. Tell me, fake, what your name means?'**

The world had lost its colour again, and he couldn't hear where it came from but he knew it to be the Voice. Looking over once again he saw the towering mass of darkness, fighting against the vibrant colours, and he acknowledged that the colours were his friends, though what he was seeing he had no idea at all.

' **I asked ya a question, now answer!'**

He didn't know how to answer, all he could do was watch as time continued and the mass of darkness endured another assault from his friends, before kicking away the closest, the calm pink one.

' **Answer me!'**

' _It means He Who Protects!'_ He shouted his response, realising he was still watching his friends losing a fight that could mean their deaths.

' **If it's a fight that they could die in, they why the hell are you here?'**

' _Because I -.'_

' **You said your name means he who protects, then what the fuck are you protecting by fleeing like a fucking coward?! Huh?!'**

He didn't have an answer, only to watch as a mass of red started to coalesce in front of the dark mass, aimed at the other colours.

' **Abandon your fear. Turn back and you will age. Hesitate and you will die. Learned that one from the biggest bastard of a fortune cookie you'll ever have the displeasure of meeting, cuz' it looks like you just set yourself on a dead straight course to meet** _ **him**_ **, so be ready, amateur.'**

He didn't know when he started running, or when the world faded back to normal, all he knew was the moment he put himself in front of his friends and drew his sword.

When he realised he was raising a bog standard katana against a goddamn _Cero_ however, it was too late to falter. The roar of the Gillian as the attack was released was louder than any of the cries of concern from his friends. Friends he had seen himself as failing by fleeing. He didn't want to see his friends die and he'd be damned if he ever watched any of them die without doing anything to stop it. He told his mother he'd become strong and he would end his own life before going back on that promise. For his friends.

The Cero hit and it hurt _like a fucking bitch_. But he stood his ground, slowly being pushed back towards the forest he had emerged from.

He was being pushed back harder now, and the moment his sword wasn't blocking the Cero its full power would kick in and most likely damage their chances of escape. He couldn't allow that to happen.

' **Jeez, it's like you're bipolar or something, one minute the coward and somehow a 'psychotic head voice' can convince you to do something both stupid and suicidal, you really are insane. But I guess I'm gonna have ta hold your hand this time too, I've done it so far!'**

He felt it, then he _saw_ it, red energy wrapping around himself and his blade, and at the time he couldn't give less of a shit. He pushed.

His blade felt stronger, cutting through the Cero, before he let out a roar, using all of his strength before a beam of red light emerged from his sword, cutting through the Gillian, surprising all present, including the teachers at Beacon cliff.

The blast left the creature roaring in agony, as it stepped backwards, onto the crumbled bridge, its last cries drowned as it fell into the gaping mouth of the chasm.

Ichigo fell forward, energy leaving him, barely registering the shouts of worry from his friends.

* * *

He could hear birds singing, and wondered where the noise was coming from. Tilting his head towards the sound, he tried to open his eyes, only to be blinded by the unbearable light that entered them too fast for adjustment.

' _Okay, let's do that again'_

Slower, this time, he opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of what he would assume to be a hospital, possibly the school's own medical area, though his search for clues as to his location and earlier events stopped when he set his eyes on the silver haired man in the black suit and green scarf.

"My, you certainly took your time waking up, is what I would have liked to say, but you've certainly recovered faster than others without Aura would have."

"Just lucky, I guess." He didn't have another way to explain it, unless it had something to do with a certain Voice that most certainly wasn't a hallucination.

"Indeed. Tell me Ichigo, do you know the chances of survival of an Auraless huntsman to go up against a Cero and survive with minimal injuries?"

"No?"

"That's because it has never been recorded, most likely because any who have attempted it have never survived to tell the tale, so what makes you so different?" The headmaster's eyes seemed to pierce his entire being, as if daring him to tell the truth or lie. Because Ichigo couldn't do either, it really was just blind luck.

' **Once again uncredited, I guess'**

' _So it was you then, thanks.'_ He didn't need to state or exclaim, he was just appreciative he got his chance to fix his mistake in running from his friends.

"Now then, disregarding the fact that you are Masaki's son, why would somebody proven incapable of utilising Aura even consider attending an academy where it would most likely cause your death?" Ozpin needed to hear the boy say it before he could tell him.

Ichigo looked up to him, and eyes once unsure of what they had fought for were steeled with determination. His voice came out as a statement more than a question, "You're asking me what I want to do if I attend your academy."

"That is the general question, yes."

"It's not something I want to do; it is something I will do, no matter what."

"And what is that?" Ozpin was generally surprised, but should've expected no less from Masaki's son.

"I'm going to protect, simple as that." It was his namesake, and for the most fleeting of moments in that forest he had forgotten the meaning of his own name and abandoned his friends. He would never fail anyone like that again.

"Well then Ichigo Kurosaki I will gladly accept you into Beacon academy under special condition, due to the bravery you showed in the Emerald Forest. Nobody will attest your right to attend this academy, whether you completed the objectives or not, you chose to protect others, and that is what being a huntsman is all about." Ozpin watched the fire spark up in his eyes, previously dulled by the unthought-of notion that he still wasn't able to go to Beacon. His eyes then sparked into confusion.

"What about -."

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you will be joining Beacon Academy as the fifth member of team JNPR, technically today known as team JNIPR, led by Jaune Arc." He showed a scroll which depicted Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren before his own image appeared in the middle.

' **Wonder if you were just put on that team because the lettering fits.'**

"Do they -."

"The others who were with you during the initiation have been incredibly eager to know about your condition since the event and to placate them slightly were told that you were being given this decision upon awakening. Your academy issue scroll along with uniform has been issued to your dorm room and your team will be here shortly." He got up to leave, but was stopped by Ichigo's words.

"Thank you, sir." Ichigo Kurosaki was never one for formalities, and Ozpin recognised this as Masaki was exactly the same, so he understood the level of respect the teen was holding him in.

"Don't thank me, prove you deserve to be such an exception and maybe while you're here we might just discover what it is that makes you so different from others." Ozpin sipped at his coffee as he left the room, letting the still waiting teens outside enter the room.

He may have lied slightly about the teens coming to meet him shortly as they had never stopped trying to be allowed to visit their friend, even after being told of Ozpin's offer for the teen.

After Ozpin left, the newly formed teams RWBY and JNPR filed into the room quietly (at the demand of Nora in case Ichigo was still asleep). Luckily filing in quietly at least prevented the fully conscious Ichigo from being pelted with questions about his wellbeing. Ren spoke first.

"Are you okay Ichigo?" He was among the most concerned as Ichigo had run in front of him to block that Cero, a feat many would see as incredibly difficult.

"Well the feeling of getting hit by a train is gone so I'd guess I'm pretty good." He joked lightly, his usual scowl disappearing at the knowledge that nobody else was injured by the Hollow.

Ruby had another reaction to her friend being alive and well, strange is it may have been. "That was sooooo cool! You were all like bam! And it was all like, I cannot defeat your power so I will fall now and it was soooooo cool!" Of course, between the random hand motions and dramatic voices Ruby had to be stopped by being put in a headlock by Yang… which led to another round of roughhousing similar to the night before the initiation.

Ichigo couldn't help but speak over to Blake "If this is a common thing then I pity you and Ice Queen. You're gonna have to learn how to control your partner, believe me I know." He gestured over to Nora, who had gone off topic and started a completely irrelevant conversation with Ren about making pancakes because Ichigo was recovered.

"Think he has a book on how to deal with that?" Blake continued the banter with the first one to actively interact with her since coming to Beacon. She didn't know why but maybe it was because Ichigo didn't seem to care about whom people were or where they came from (she seemed less inclined with Yang at first because the blonde had approached the topic of her bow whereas Ichigo hadn't even mentioned it).

"Believe me if he did I'd actually understand Nora by now, and I've been dealing with her since I was a kid. I think dealing with insanity requires its own strategies each time." He said looking over to Weiss trying to break up the roughhousing sisters. "And I think you're gonna need yours as well if you hope to survive with them." They shared a mutual smile before Blake went to rejoin her team while Ichigo was addressed by Jaune.

"Well I guess if what Ozpin said is true then we're in this together, huh?" Jaune wasn't really sure how to start a conversation that didn't involve others, with Pyrrha talking to Ren and Nora and team RWBY having their own hijinks on the other side of the room.

"I guess we are… leader." He wasn't sure whether the best way would be to address him by leader or captain or something like that but he was trying to be nice.

"Being a leader huh, I guess so." Jaune seemed hesitant. Him, leading a team? He still didn't understand why he was chosen, but quickly shook those thoughts off before reaching a hand out to Ichigo.

"I guess this is to a new start, as a team." And like that they shook hands; both wondering what was to come that awaited the newly formed teams RWBY and JNIPR.

' **My shit-fan-hitting senses are tingling.'**

' _Shut the fuck up, whatever you are.'_

* * *

 **DEUS EX CHASM.**

 **Because how the hell else am I gonna have a Gillian killed? Power levels dictate in my mind that I don't want anybody able to kill Gillians yet.**

 **Joking aside, onto explanations:**

 **Honestly I know the idea of having a Gillian is already used in other stories, but I didn't know how else, why our limited knowledge of Grimm types, and my own inability to make up a Grimm on the spot, that I could make something to fight that would make Zangetsu give Ichigo power, because that was the end goal. This is something that had to happen for future events in volume 1 as I have planned them, but I'm not divulging more than that.**

 **Next: Ichigo running.**

 **So I had him run in fear, but in my defense this still isn't the same Ichigo who went swinging at a Gillian without a Shikai because he didn't understand explanations on anything, or was just too stubborn/cocky to give a damn. This is an Ichigo that knows he has no Aura and has been trained to know that only trained huntsmen are allowed to fight Gillians, coupled with his own fear of whatever it was that he dreamt (somebody might get that it is somewhat of a reference, and in an ideal world MCBOSSWAFFLES won't be far enough ahead in the story to point it out for anyone else XD). So between fear of the unknown and shock at the Gillian, I had him run and let Zanny give the most famous, and possibly best, Bleach quote ever (I also outright mentioned in earlier chapters that Ichigo wasn't dismissing the idea that the Voice was a hallucination or mental disorder, disproved by the Gillian fight).**

 **Next: Ichigo's team.**

 **Honestly surprised nobody guessed this anytime after the Kuroyuri chapter was posted, but I guess you guys probably either assumed it or just were surprised. Honestly I haven't seen a SINGLE story that places a crossover character on Team JNPR (the ones that replace Jaune with a crossover character don't count!), and I like that team, although they were pretty much side characters until Volumes 3-4. Also wondering if you guys liked the alterations to the Deathstalker fight, I tried my best to integrate Ichigo into it, but I'm not sure.**

 **Aaaaaand I've gone ranting again. You guys make me so happy with the amount of positive support this story has given me and you guys make me feel welcome to write as both stress relief, and as a hobby and have people actively enjoy what I write, and for that I thank you.**

 **Reviews would be greatly appreciated on my actions in this chapter, and see ya next week :D**

 **Also, can you guys say longest chapter so far? Cause I sure as hell can XD**


	13. The Badge And The Burden Of A Soul

**Ugh, Tuesday, finish school, go home, play games with friends, do homework you forgot about then realise it's half past eight at night and you need to watch the new RWBY episode.**

 **Then after watching said episode your only thoughts are 'Plot bunny', 'Plot bunny' and 'Plot bunny' and you have a successful recipe to start writing a chapter that won't come out for a week and a half after writing this AN and I will most likely finish writing before I even publish the chapter before this one.**

 **It's one of those weeks.**

 **Disclaimer, TheTechnoMage does not own Bleach or Rwby, nor does he own:**

 **Apple**

 **Windows**

 **Wattpad**

 **The Viewers' attention**

 **The Viewers' interest in reading an AN**

 **Sleep**

 **A reason to not believe the world is fucked**

 **He does however own very crap views on the world.**

 **I need funnier Authors Notes.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 6: The Badge And The Burden Of A Soul**

* * *

So for some, after completing a truly exhausting initiation filled with near death experiences (and for some almost a day afterwards waiting outside a hospital room) that the people to go through such an experience would be exhausted beyond measure and ready to hit the bricks like a wrecking ball, especially knowing the fact that the semester would begin the next day.

Nora Valkyrie was no such person.

Much to the detriment of her new teammates, who might've wanted to go to sleep early after such an experience.

Well, not so much Ichigo, but he had slept for almost a day straight.

Which of course, after some explaining from Ren and Ichigo, led to the newly formed Team JNIPR sitting around in the late evening, not doing much because of Nora's near limitless energy not allowing sleep at such an _early_ time.

' _Jeez she's like a little kid sometimes.'_

' **Y'know I really can't think of an insult to respond to that, I think I ran dry on insults about your ability to point out the obvious years ago'**

' _Instead we could skip to the conversation topic of what you are?'_

' **I can't explain, told ya that the other day. You're gonna have to be smart enough to figure it out on your own'** The Voice saw the kid, because he still wouldn't acknowledge him with the name of the King, as having potential. But it was potential that would only be fulfilled if he could come close to becoming what he once was, and that would be without the Voice's help.

' _Dead end again.'_ Ichigo had been trying, more so since the initiation, to coax whatever knowledge he could about the Voice, now that it was proven something more than a hallucination. He felt an idiot, trying to convince himself for years that the voice in the back of his mind was a hallucination or some sign of mental illness, but that _strength_ he received in the forest, and the advice given with it proved his childish beliefs wrong.

A hallucination wouldn't say something about giving strength and actually give you the power to topple a creature taller than a building.

' **If anything tha chasm did all the work for ya'**

Ichigo didn't find a need to respond or be angry about that comment, looking down to his right hand and watching it clench and unclench. He remembered the feeling, that power he held, it felt like a distant dream but when he tried to remember it the images always slipped from the clutches of his mind, as if dragged, just out of his reach, and held there to taunt him.

The thoughts on his experience were as usual interrupted by Nora, who after a distracting topic that had Ren listening as usual, trying to keep her from bouncing around the room, and had Jaune's head spinning, making Ichigo pity his poor leader for the fact this would go on for at least four years.

Of course, after said topic of conversation was over, Nora looked to the other side of the room, seeing Ichigo sitting on his makeshift mat on the floor, on which he would sleep, before she was already in front of his face, exclaiming to the room. "How comes Ichigo has to sleep on the floor?" That led to a complete and total sweatdrop from the subject of conversation.

' _She only just realised we were on the floor here?'_ His mind was completely baffled by Nora sometimes.

' **We? Last I checked I don't get a share of the body, I just get to be the alarm clock for death experiences.'** It was confused that Ichigo had somewhat unconsciously referred to both of them in a statement, even though none of the others knew of the Voice.

"Ichigo chose to sleep on the floor because he's fine with it and the rooms aren't big enough for five beds." Ren explained, glad they hadn't brought more stuff, the entire team included. If personal belongings got too out of hand then fitting it all into the room would've been very hectic.

Nora's mind seemed to be satisfied with the statement, walking back to her bed before stopping and Ichigo could practically _hear_ the gears turning in her head, probably followed by an oven timer.

' **Jeez, that's a form of crazy ya can't even blame on me'**

' _I choose to blame the lightning bolt that struck her.'_

' **Fair enough'**

Of course, after said mental oven timer went off, Nora instantly exclaimed for all of her team (and the rest of the dorm block) to hear, "We should build a hammock!" Of course, the unexpected amount of noise had pretty much blasted Jaune into a wall and had Pyrrha looking like she had stared into the face of death itself, and Ichigo vaguely noted that the door knob had actually _warped_ , which was definitely not ordinary.

Ren however, almost psychically able to tell what Nora was going to do, had put in earplugs, and promptly covered Nora's mouth with his hand before practically whisper yelling "Shush!" into her face, which seemed to get the message across before the girl could deafen anyone else.

Pyrrha, being the kindest one (and most forgiving, as she looked at the door knob guiltily instead of feeling any amount of anger towards her teammate) had recovered and responded "That sounds like an excellent idea!" Pyrrha was the kind of person who would be nice to anyone unless they had done something to lose that respect, and she was trying to show enthusiasm towards the teammates she would be with for the next few years.

Naturally, that led to a grinning Nora, and a grinning Nora was really only ever good in fighting scenarios, otherwise you had reason to be scared and fleeing the scene, and then began the weirdest building process anyone in the room had ever been present to (admittedly including Ichigo watching Masaki try and build a shed as a child while she was being too stubborn to accept help from anyone).

Over an hour, several building tools and complaints from Weiss (whose team was straight across the hall from them), Nora had finished her masterpiece.

Although masterpiece was putting it in a unique way.

Instead of what they expected, which may have been a regular hammock, mounted from the ceiling or perhaps between the walls in the corner where the space was unused, she had set up the hammock _across_ the entire room, meaning after awakening the rest of the team would have to duck under Ichigo to pass, and made even trying to open the bathroom door precarious.

The next unique feature would be the mounting, in which Nora had spent two minutes trying to use nails and had successfully managed to almost bring the roof down on them by trying to use Magnhild as a construction tool. So she went with the next best option, which in her mind, involved holding one end up with Ichigo's sword and the other end with Midnight's blade, much to the irritation of the teen that would need those two weapons for combat training and the inner Voice, for reasons Ichigo didn't understand.

Her plans for building a hammock would've been completed sooner, had she not been forced to do it twice. Forced in her mind anyway, as after creating it the first time her response to completion was to run from the door and jump onto it. Only to overshoot and fall of the side, to which she responded "This hammock has developed a fault!" and immediately took it apart.

Unfortunately for the team (in which Ren was facepalming, Ichigo looked like Yang did in the Emerald Forest right before she exploded, Jaune looked confused and Pyrrha looked like she was trying to be positive, although her twitching facial expression was the tell that her smile was forced went unnoticed by Nora), Nora had immediately commanded that they go to sleep straight after finishing, which led to a grumbling Ichigo sleeping on a hammock that hadn't been tested, and because it was stretched across a large room he may as well have been sleeping on the floor with how low it reached.

If it were up to him or the Voice he would've been wrenching the sword out of the wall to go on a search of something to vent his frustrations on, but instead he simply waited for the warm embrace of sleep, preferably into a land without crazy.

' **Like that'll happen with your mind'**

Or alternatively he could just hope the Voice didn't do a voiceover commentary of his dream, which was the weirdest nightmare he ever had in his younger years.

* * *

"Class starts soon, somebody is going to have to wake him or we'll be late." Jaune justified, already like the rest of his team he had been up and ready to tackle the first day of the semester, though some near mishaps were had and Ren had already worn Nora down into letting somebody else set up the hammock. Although Ren had used the words 'Trained Expert' because anything that didn't look like a death trap would be at least marginally better than the monstrosity his team had spent the better part of their waking hours trying to avoid knocking into.

Of course, when Jaune's statement was scarcely responded to, with his friends still readying himself for the day, he took it upon himself to wake Ichigo, moving his hand to shake the teen awake.

Seeing this action, Nora went to immediately warn her friend out of fear for his safety and the safety of anything in the general radius, she tried to whisper-shout "Don't!" But the damage had been done.

The moment Jaune's hand reached near Ichigo the high pitched sound of a whistle blasted from across the hall and his eyes snapped open.

Jaune opened his eyes to realise that a second ago he had been his own room, not being looked down on by the curious eyes of Ruby and Blake, as well as the somewhat angered gaze of Weiss. Yang seemed less concerned, as soon did her teammates, bar Ruby who was concerned about her friend literally flying through their door.

While Ruby tried to help Jaune, the rest of her team's gazes were glued to the source of the flying blonde, namely being the very much shirtless teen standing in the room across the hall, fist outstretched before looking back and forth between his leader and his hand, before promptly finding the nearest wall and burying his face into it. Forcefully.

"Well that happened." Blake stated lamely, surprising others as it was Yang who would usually be the one to utter such statements, although her partner seemed to be having a flashback of the crazy experience of the Emerald Forest, possibly still not accepting the insanity of those around her.

Frankly, Blake was wondering what Jaune had done to warrant being sent flying like that, while averting her eyes from the shirtless teen whose brain seemed to finally kick in with the fact that he was half naked in front of all of his friends before he walked into the bathroom with an exasperated statement of "Oh, for fucks sake. Not again."

Yang was still suffering a brain crisis on what kind of upbringing Ichigo had and if he was secretly as eccentric as Nora, with evidence for it being a true statement given the fact he looked like he had slugged his leader across the hall and had only just woken up.

Ruby was just plain confused, but more concerned about the still somewhat dazed Jaune, who luckily didn't seem to suffer any pain except blunt force due to his Aura.

Pyrrha was looking both surprised and worried for her leader, whilst filing away to ask her teammates about that later.

Nora looked torn between fearful and cracking up at the scenario, and understood how Masaki felt when Nora was the one on the receiving end of _that_. That was pretty much the entire reason they hadn't stuck around Ichigo at the ballroom before the initiation.

Ren was just facepalming and briefly considering creating a crash course for their group on how to deal with his friends. Ichigo thought Nora strange but sometimes he was just as bad.

Weiss was… for lack of a better word, fuming. Because she had lost all capability to form words and was shaking while looking around angrily and pretty much growling at people because no sound would emerge.

Of course, that was when Ichigo emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed, and ended all discussion with the question "Isn't class about to start?"

Yeah, that had ended the discussion with both teams charging out to class in fear of lateness on their first day.

* * *

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night!" The portly man bellowed, his appearance ironic to his name, being Professor Port, although Ichigo could've cared less after hearing tell from the other students that the man rarely actually taught anything.

What he'd heard was that it would be an hour long lecture from an old man rambling about his 'glory days' or whatever, which he at first dismissed out of disrespect from a student.

' **Yep, it's official. Everybody within a several mile radius is crazy. There is no way this guy is qualified to be teachin' insteada sittin' in a seniors home'** and that was how Ichigo understood it now, fully agreeing with the Voice.

Luckily, they had arrived just on time, though it seemed that only he and Jaune were the only ones on his team in this class, with the rest of the team being in other classes at the time, although they did have combat classes together, if Ichigo remembered correctly.

' **Ya probably didn't if your astounding ability to remember faces kicked in'**

' _I haven't been that bad!'_

'… **Really?'**

' _Correction: I haven't been that bad for a while'_

' **Slightly better'**

' _We're totally zoning out the lesson to avoid death by boredom, aren't we?'_ Looking over Ichigo knew he wasn't the only one at risk of that fate, with Ruby literally snoring out loud, although the teacher didn't seem to notice, too enthralled in his own tale.

Of course, the young leader wasn't the only one enduring, Ichigo could see from where he sat that Blake was hiding the same book she read in the ballroom behind her notebook, with Yang reading over her shoulder, clearly also bored.

Of his friends that left Weiss, who at least from where he sat, looked like she was actually listening and giving a crap what the old man had to say, although to Ichigo she did stick out as that kind of student.

That only left one, which the sound of snoring from his left confirmed as Jaune dozing off as well, promptly following his fellow leader's example.

With these facts in mind, Ichigo set to his own form of self-distraction, although at least his made it look more like he was listening.

' _So what are you, anyway?'_

' **I've told ya a thousand times that I can't tell ya and it's up to you, dumbass'**

' _Are you a sign I'm insane?'_

' **I thought we'd already ruled that out'**

' _Just checking. Are you a wraith?'_

' **Really? That's your next guess?'**

' _I don't hear you denying it, wraith'_

' **I'm not a fucking wraith! They are literally defined as an image of somebody seen after their death, do ya see a goddamn image?'** The Voice didn't seem happy at being called a wraith of all things.

' _No, but I've seen a grin. Maybe you were just a serial killer?'_ Ichigo had pretty much decided annoying the Voice would be funnier than the never ending chase for answers.

' **A what? That's ya best idea?'**

Ichigo spent the better next half an hour doing his best to either piss off or get answers out of the Wraith, which Ichigo decided a better nickname than the Voice because it pissed it off.

Of course, his mind finally slipped out of mental conversation with whatever it was by the sight of Weiss re-entering the room (when had she left?) in combat attire, before the Professor, whose voice he was still blocking out purely in case he started telling another story, released a Boarbatusk of all things in a classroom, which wasn't really expected.

Glancing to his side, Ichigo saw Jaune watching as well while the demented boar demon charged at the heiress, to which she sidestepped and attempted to slash at its side, only to have her blade rebound off of its armour.

' _Boarbatusk, tough armour but soft underbelly, surprised she doesn't know that.'_

' **Don't tell her, it'll be funnier to watch'** Apparently Ichigo wasn't the only one to stop the verbal rally (although it was more a mental rally) to watch the fight unfold.

Of course, seeing her teammate fight led to the heiress' young enthusiastic leader to try and cheer he teammate on, while the boar charged and so did Weiss, before once more rebounding off of the armour and having her weapon locked between its tusks.

Ruby was trying to be supportive of the heiress, Ichigo could see that, but when another supportive cheer led to the heiress actively stopping her tussle with the Boarbatusk to glare at her leader. That was when Ichigo knew something was up. Never take your eyes of the opponent was probably one of the most important lessons in a fight and she stopped to glare at an ally.

' **Well, credit to ya mother at least. You can actually look at things with those eyes!'** Ichigo really couldn't tell whether it was a double-edged compliment or plain sarcasm to do with his observational skills. He _could_ be observational, but he never had that luxury in an actual fight because of his lack of Aura.

Of course, in Weiss' moment of faltering in the fight she allowed her weapon to be launched away from her, leaving her open to have to dodge the boar charging her before retrieving her weapon, which was when Ichigo tuned into what was being said.

"Weiss, go for its belly. There's no armour under there." Credit to her Ruby wasn't acting worriedly or exclaiming, she was talking calmly like a leader should. The response it received though wasn't called for in Ichigo's book.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss practically yelled, before using a glyph to stop the charging boar, launching it onto its back before jumping onto a glyph behind her, launching herself with enough momentum to pierce her rapier through the unarmoured underbelly of the creature, killing it.

After that, Weiss was left out of breath, something that wouldn't have happened had she not been angered about not being made the leader of her team.

In Weiss' eyes, she was acting completely rationally, not seeing a reason why the _child_ became leader when she didn't, didn't she take command back at the temple in the forest? She agreed to work with Ruby, but she did so under the pretence that she was in charge (although she expected people to follow that without being told _that_ little tidbit).

She left immediately after Port dismissed the class, leading to Jaune's comment "Sheesh, what's with her? Anyway, rhetorical question, Ichigo, I need to talk with you for a minute after this." Jaune didn't know how else to react, still in his own turmoil about being a leader, something he planned on talking to Ichigo about. Luckily it would be a few minutes before the next class started so they had time after leaving the room.

"So what's the matter? Something come up?" Ichigo was wondering why his leader had asked him to talk.

"It's about my position as team leader." He really didn't know how else to approach it, unsure of any way to make it sound casual.

"What about it?" Ichigo didn't understand why Jaune was talking to _him_ of all people on how to lead. _'Especially after you ran like a coward in the forest'_ He mentally berated himself. He hated being weak, hated being protected.

"I think you should be leader." Jaune had no way to sugarcoat anything, and Ichigo froze.

Of course the Voice would choose now of all times to go on a fucking coffee break.

"Why me?" Were his first words, unbidden from his mouth before he could collect his thoughts.

"I don't know, I – I just don't know how to be a leader." He looked down in shame. That was the best he could do without outright stating he should have no place in Beacon.

"And you think I do?" His brain kicked in long enough for confusion to occur on Jaune's thought that he could lead.

"Look, you – You were calm through all of that in the forest. You didn't get scared and you knew what to do and people will listen to you." That was how Jaune saw it, and Ichigo loathed that Jaune saw it that way. Had nobody noticed him running away while they tried to fight the Gillian?

"That isn't true." He mumbled, loud enough for Jaune to hear.

"That's garbage and you know it, hell you're still doing stuff like this and you can't use Aura!" Jaune was afraid. Afraid of the burdens of being a leader, and deep down he knew he might've just been trying to dump it on who he saw as the next best candidate, especially after seeing the turmoil in Team RWBY.

"People don't listen to me. I just say things loud and simple enough to not confuse anyone. You speak and the others listened, understanding what you said. I can't do tactics and battle plans. You managed to improvise against a giant Deathstalker on the fly." _You stayed behind and fought while I fled in fear._ The last thought was kept to himself, perhaps out of too much shame to say it out loud.

"But -." Jaune wanted to rebuke what he was going to say, but Ichigo did the usual thing if people just weren't listening. He wacked him upside the head.

"Look, if there is one single thing that I was told before coming to Beacon it was to trust in Ozpin. He made you leader. Not me. I'm just lucky that he chose for me to go here, even though I shouldn't. Always remember that. You were chosen, and a guy like him always does stuff like that for a reason." Ichigo's own shame aside, he wouldn't rebuke Jaune's right to lead, because of the potential he showed in the forest, the blonde just needed a little more in the self-confidence department.

"Indeed you may be correct Mr Kurosaki." Came the voice walking up the hall towards them, none other than Ozpin himself, coffee mug in hand.

"Mr Arc, I chose you as a leader for a reason, and that reason is up to you to discover. But remember that you aren't alone; you have a team behind you. Prove they deserve somebody that can lead and not someone that cowers at what should by all means be the chance to prove their worth." Ozpin had known people like Jaune over his many years. He had potential, but what he lacked was the simplest thing. Resolve. Such thoughts sprouted from that single word and he was content to meander past the other teens and back towards his office. His coffee needed refilling.

Well, it was at least convenient for him that he could solve two team crises by walking down the same corridor, it was a real timesaver.

"Told ya." Was Ichigo's statement after the headmaster had walked away.

' **Ya know, that discussion mighta been more difficult had glasses 'n' cane not been on a midday stroll'.** Of course the Voice had disappeared when advice may have been needed, only to reappear straight afterwards.

"I guess you're right, so anyway, looks like we need to get to classes." Jaune still wasn't entirely confident, but he at least had somewhat of an understanding why he was a leader, and that it wasn't a position so easily given away.

* * *

' _Hey wraith?'_ It was night time, and all were asleep, except for Ichigo, sitting in the newly repositioned hammock in the corner, out of the way and not a complete health hazard (and not held up by swords).

' **Told you not ta call me that, Jackass!'**

' _Back at the ballroom, when I was talking to Blake, you found something said funny, and all I have is a question.'_

' **I can't tell ya what I –'**

' _What does it mean to have two souls?'_

* * *

 **271 Favourites and 345 Follows. You guys have been great and I am seriously happy you enjoy my story, although I cannot encourage reviewing enough as I like to see people's opinions and questions about my writing as there are still parts I'm unsure of.**

 **So, the last third (I think) of Volume 1 and onward will probably be the most writing I am unsure of what people will think about it, so far mostly being the section between Ichigo and Jaune in this chapter and kinda a section with Blake in the next chapter.**

 **So pretty much I kept the badge and the burden title because I somewhat addressed Jaune's insecurities as a leader but the 'of a soul' part at the end was to do with the last little segment. I'm unsure of what people will think of the Jaune segment as in canon his insecurities about being made a leader are only addressed in Jaunedice but this time I'm addressing a part of it earlier. The way I see it is that he doesn't understand why he was made a leader and believes anyone could have done better than him, with Ichigo as the next best option.**

 **It also gives Ichigo a chance to address his own shame at running in the Emerald Forest, which is something that'll be a point of guilt for Ichigo as he knows his friends could've died when he ran away.**

 **Please review with your thoughts on what I've done, I could really use the input.**

 **Well, the next chapter is already over 5K words and it isn't finished yet, but it will cover both Jaunedice and Forever Fall, so see ya next week :D**

 **I'm just gonna wait and see how long it takes for somebody to review pointing out any references I've made XD.**


	14. Jaunedice

**Another week, another chapter that started that isn't going to be published for another week XD.**

 **Beforehand warning, if you didn't check the wordcount or size of the scrollbar in your browser. This is a goddamn double chapter, because I love you guys so much that I decided not to split it into two parts.**

 **Also, before the chapter starts, I realised another mistake I've made is that I've given no way of replying to guest reviews, which is something I see as a mistake, seeing as there are a few guest reviewers who've been constant since the start (Lookin' at you, Kestes).**

 **So I'm gonna try to start doing that thing most writers do from now on and reply to guest reviews in the chapter, starting from reviews from the last chapter onwards.**

Kestes:Nah, I think it's good they're being addressed now. Espcially with Ichigo being there. He's too blunt of an individual to let that kind of issue go lying down.

Great job and I look forward to seeing more :)

 **Glad you liked what I did last chapter between Ichigo and Jaune, I wasn't sure about it with how it went but it seems to be taken well so far. Thanks for always reviewing (You've reviewed on 11/13 chapters I've published so far and was the third person to ever review my shit XD).**

Guest: Are you ever gonna bring back his Quincy side? The old man?

Story is great.

 **Happy to see you enjoy the story. Just to be a douche I'm not gonna answer that question and simply reply to read the story :P**

 **Anyway, moving on.**

 **Disclaimer!**

 **I don't own anything. I think that would classify me as a hobo.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 7: Friends**

* * *

Jaune panted, letting out a groan before eying up his opponent.

Cardin stood strong, if anything casual, like he was mocking him, confirmed by his incessant chuckling that only seemed to stop in time to knock Jaune on his ass once more. Mace on shoulder and all, not even pointed at him. Of course he wasn't being taken seriously.

Muttering a few more words of self-encouragement, as well as being spurred on by the chuckling, Jaune charged with a battle cry, sword raised for an overhead strike that flew past Cardin, who ducked to the side. Before Jaune did a near-perfect imitation of a deer in the headlights, before being launched back by the mace, losing his shield in the process.

' **Well I give the coward an eight outta ten on impressionism, maybe he should be doing that insteada fightin'** Well at least the other _soul_ within Ichigo enjoyed doing a play-by-play, as Ichigo was still somewhat coming to terms with having an extra soul inside him.

' **You're talkin' like I'm insurance or something. You break yours and ya get mine free or something? Ha, fuck no'** Well at least the casual banter/ insult volley/ conversations hadn't changed much, although Ichigo wasn't capable of figuring out much else than having another soul within him. It honestly begged the question of why he couldn't produce Aura, if he held multiple souls.

Jaune brought his sword into a two handed grip, charging with another overhead strike, forcing Cardin on the defensive. Until Cardin overpowered Jaune, pushing him back before taunting "This is the part where you lose."

Unfortunately, as the Voice (because Ichigo had gotten sick of how many names he had given it, so he had switched back to the original) had mocked/ joked about many times, Jaune might've been as bipolar as Ichigo seemed to be. Sometimes cowardly and sometimes stubborn and unyielding, he tried to remark "Over my dead -." Of course said statement, and the unyieldingness that came with it, was interrupted by the one thing any man, with or without Aura would never be able to withstand.

A kick to the balls.

Dropping his sword and falling to his knees (and in the opinion of the Voice, almost assuming the foetal position), Jaune could only look up in failure as the jackass in armour (Ichigo's words, not Jaune's) raised his mace for an overhead strike, ready to finish the job had the buzzer not rung, signalling the end of the match.

' **Saved by the bell much?'**

"Cardin, that's enough." Professor Goodwitch stated, stepping onto the stage, at least somewhat concerned that one of her students was about to take something too far while the other hadn't progressed enough to do anything about it. She still had the same lingering concerns about Jaune from the Emerald Forest, and the lack of progress he had displayed had placed a sliver of doubt in her mind as to Ozpin's decision, or rather, indecision about anything to do with the blonde leader.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Continuing without faltering, her own thoughts aside, she continued her teaching as she was expected as the combat instructor.

"Mr. Arc it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more… defensive strategy." She was barely keeping the exasperation out of her voice that the boy had not improved. While she did this Jaune looked down to his scroll to see his own Aura gauge, flashing red, while images of his team was displayed below it, each with full green Aura bars. Well aside from Ichigo's. That just had an error message.

Let it be stated that automatic Aura measurements and response through technology would be ineffective when somebody was incapable of wielding Aura. Or the scroll would assume they were dead already, that was a very strange day.

"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?" Glynda had gathered her mind and made a conscious effort to not sound exasperated while the teen looked at his scroll, and judging from the fact she wasn't getting strange looks she guessed that worked.

"Speak for yourself." Cardin stated aloud, picking up his mace to leave. Ichigo phased out what Goodwitch had to say after that, trying to see if he could physically glare a hole through Cardin's head.

He at least vaguely acknowledged the somewhat concerned stares of his friends, although Pyrrha was more focused on Jaune. Only one pair of eyes throughout his friends seemed to pick up that while he glared at Cardin his eyes had turned from a caramel brown to a sickly golden, filled with malice.

He really needed something to beat the shit out of right now.

* * *

"So, there we were. In the middle of the night."

"It was day." Came Ren's idle statement, as Ichigo looked on in bemusement at his friend's humour. Or more the fact that Ren recalled Nora's dreams better than Nora did.

"We were surrounded by Ursai." Nora continued, and Ichigo acknowledged his friend would be a great dramatic reader.

"They were Beowolves." As long as Ren was around to make sure she didn't start her own abridgement of books.

"Dozens of them!" Nora stood up in her exclamation, surprising Yang and Ruby (who were the only ones really listening intently, with Blake reading, Weiss doing whatever with her nails, Ichigo looking at one of the many different books the library had offered (Read: Ozpin) to help him figure out his Aura issue, Pyrrha was listening with her mind on other things and Jaune was picking at his food).

The emphasis Nora put on her statement was slightly ruined when Ichigo chose to pipe in to cut Ren a break "Two of them. And if I remember correctly you originally described your dream as standing there and watching from a throne while Ren and I killed them." That might've slightly deflated Nora, her tale of grandeur watered down by the more realistic statements, but in her mind, the show must go on!

"But they were no match! And in the end we made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!" She allowed herself to sit down with a triumphant grin, her story finished.

"She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren stated, aware Nora was telling it for the sake of a story, but he and Ichigo had been hearing this story since about the time they had arrived in Vale. The story got old, fast. And so did the new version she came up with weekly, the one Ichigo describing being the… fifth? Installation of the tale, inspired around the time just after the Emerald Forest, with Nora playing around with a chess piece, being Ichigo's evidencing for that installation of the story.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha took the opportunity to speak, as no one else was, and approached her concerns towards her partner.

"Wha – Oh yeah, why?" Jaune _may_ have admitted to zoning out a bit, lost in thought. He still couldn't wrap his head around why he was leader, Ozpin's words or not. Of course he understood more about his teammates, enough to know Ichigo wouldn't change his mind on the topic if approached on it again.

"It's just that – You seem a little… not okay." Ruby was as concerned for her friend as Pyrrha was, though her social awkwardness did make it a little more difficult to be upfront about it, so she took the opportunity to jump in on the conversation topic when Pyrrha brought it up.

"Guys, I'm fine, seriously. Look!" To which he ended with a totally, completely, undeniably, absolutely the most ultimate –

Most bullshit fake smile ever.

' **Wow, he's a terrible fighter and a terrible liar.'**

' _Agreed, unfortunately.'_

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha was concerned, but knew being blunt about it would seem to fall to her, as Jaune's partner.

And the usual suspects for blunt statements didn't seem to be putting their two Lien in, Blake, because she wasn't a member of their team, Ren because he was dealing with Nora and Pyrrha didn't think the responsibility should fall to him as he wasn't Jaune's partner and Ichigo. Ichigo might've been the next best choice had the topic of Cardin Winchester not seem to make him look ready to draw his blade and stab just about anything.

Of course, the reason such a topic had an effect on Ichigo was that no school official seemed to notice or give a shit that Cardin looked down on so many people, as well as being what he would describe as a typical run of the mill racist.

"Who, Cardin Winchester? No, he just likes to mess around, y'know, practical jokes." Jaune was trying his absolute best to be dismissive, but it didn't seem to be working. Damn his friends for caring so much.

"He's a bully." Even Ruby's usual happy go lucky demeanour had disappeared in favour of most likely anger at the proclaimed 'bully'.

' **Sounds like even the rose has thorns.'**

' _Are you really making puns right now? You once suggested killing Yang because she made a bad pun and now you're continuing to make them?'_

' **Puns are my thing, I called dibs!'**

"Please, name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune stated, emphasising air quotes on the word 'bullied', hoping his friends didn't pay enough attention to back up their claim.

And that was when his plan went up in smoke and Ichigo chose to intervene.

"Here's a three for one, book dropper, shield stopper and rocket locker. Not to mention the guy is an armoured asshat to top all armoured asshats and his less than stellar treatment of anyone he sees as weaker than him, which includes just about anyone he can beat in a fight and Faunus in general."

There was definitely the part of his mind – at least 60% belonging to the Voice – telling him to beat the everloving crap out of Cardin. And the 75% of the brain that agreed with it.

"So? Like I said, practical jokes." He was pretty much going down with the ship at this point, and the logical part of his brain was telling him to just agree that they were right and he didn't do anything because he was so weak. Naturally that was the first part of the brain to be defaulted to the 'spam mail' folder.

"Jaune you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha wasn't convinced at all (though neither was anybody else), as well as being more concerned that her partner would lie about something so obvious to his team.

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" And there was Nora's input on the matter of helping out a teammate, though Ichigo wasn't really ready to give his, or even considering it really.

' **I agree with Nora.'**

' _Me too'_

' **Really?'**

' _Well where would you stand on a guy like that if you were in my position?'_

' **Preferably his neck'**

"Guys really, its fine, besides it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone." Of course that statement ended with the present teens noticing said armoured asshat along with his team of slightly less armoured asshats, who Ichigo didn't have the capability to give a shit about learning the names of, laughing while Cardin pulled the rabbit ear of Velvet, one of the second year students at Beacon who shared a couple of classes with them.

Unfortunately, childhood tendencies kicked in when Ichigo saw an asshole abusing a Faunus for the sake of it. Really reminded him of Xander, to be honest.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha stated in disgust.

"He's not the only one." Blake's eyes were narrowed in anger, her voice low. She pretty much had to keep reminding herself that she was no longer in the White Fang and it wouldn't be acceptable for somebody like that to have the crap beaten out of them.

Of course, said statements on unjust abuse to Faunus got the gears ticking in Ren's head, waiting for some sort of opinion he knew was coming from Ichigo. And when it didn't come he looked over to the seat next to him, his friend gone.

This would be one of the few scenarios that could probably warrant swearing from the stoic teen. "Oh crapbaskets."

That of course, got the other present teens eyes from him, including Jaune who was about to vacate the table. They were all really surprised at the random swearing from the quietest teen among them. Questioning gazes locked onto him which were promptly answered by the orange-haired teenager behind him that had completely wandered off and picked a fight without anyone noticing.

* * *

 _About a minute earlier_

* * *

Ichigo was pretty damn pissed off, if you asked him.

Reasons to be pissed off?

Cardin was a total asshole.

Cardin was a total asshole to one of his friends.

Nobody had put him in his place for it after nearly a month.

And his childhood _may_ have ingrained a reaction in his brain to racism, and that generally involved beating up the source of it (or getting beaten up by the source of it in his younger years).

That was what led to Ichigo disregarding logical thought of getting a teacher, instead grabbing the offending appendage of Cardin's, effectively ending his grip on Velvet's ear.

"Go sit with your team or something." Ichigo's voice was stating that to Velvet, and the girl seemed to take a hint, before picking up her tray and vacating the table, turning his attention to the thing he was _really_ looking for another reason to fight.

Cardin shifted his gaze over to Ichigo in irritation, "So we got a weakling protecting a freak? Well boys I think we might've seen everything today. So, _weakling_ , you're gonna let go of my arm or I'm gonna put you in a world of hurt."

Let it be stated that Ichigo Kurosaki didn't like being seen as weak, still berating himself over weakness in the initiation. But being called weak from a guy who picked on others to get his kicks? And someone who believed they would beat him and wasn't even taking him seriously enough to get up out of his seat? He saw those as two perfectly good reasons to pick a fight.

"I'm gonna make something clear." His voice was low, and he barely restrained the anger in his tone. "You're gonna leave my friends, and any Faunus, alone. Otherwise you'll be the one in for a world of hurt."

"Oh, so the weakling with no place at Beacon has moxie, does he?" Cardin Winchester didn't _do_ getting threatened, and in his eyes this proclaimed weakling was about to realise the error of his ways, so Cardin brought his fist off of the table, and swung it towards Ichigo's head.

His fist met its mark with a sound very identifiable as somebody being hit in the face by an Aura covered fist, but Ichigo didn't move, nor did he let go of Cardin's arm.

That was about the time the rest of the cafeteria noticed the beginning of a fight, and Cardin was determined to make a fool of Ichigo in front of all of them.

"That all you got? My mother punches harder than that." While it may have come off as taunting to anyone else, only Ren and Nora could attest to how effective Masaki was in hand-to-hand and ranged combat.

Cardin snarled, bringing his fist back again, seeing the small streak of blood running down Ichigo's face, before slamming his fist in again. Ichigo still didn't budge.

"Cocky, are ya? Weaklings like you and those freaks should learn how you should treat your betters." He brought his fist back again.

That was when he glared straight into golden eyes.

Ichigo's statement? "Yeah, I knew before I came here that there was always gonna be somebody above than me. But I'd rather be scared of the guy who's right at my feet." Cardin's team didn't do anything to stop it, more afraid of how quiet and calm Ichigo was. Cardin had brought his fist back, but when Ichigo finished his statement, he brought back his own fist and slugged Cardin.

' **Ding ding ding! Asshole knockout!'**

' _You seem… quieter today'_

At that point in time Nora would've said Ichigo still hit harder if you woke him up in the morning.

"You done already?"

Cardin got up with a snarl, stating "Not likely." Before charging Ichigo with a raised fist.

Ichigo ducked his head to the side, and met Cardin with the same takedown the bully had used against Jaune earlier.

' **Never doubt the effectiveness of a kick to the balls.'**

Cardin dropped like a sack of potatoes in a suit of armour, and Ichigo stood over him, spitting a lob of blood onto the ground next to him. "Maybe I wasn't clear enough at the start. You are going to leave my friends alone, and if I ever catch you giving them or any Faunus shit, there'll be way more than that came from." He could feel Cardin's hateful glare at him, but he was unyielding towards somebody like that.

Ignoring Cardin's glare, the stares of bewilderment, surprise and appreciation from his friends for doing something, he left the cafeteria. He could skip next class and there was blood that needed cleaning from his face.

* * *

"Y'know if I knew it would've been this much of a mess to clean up I would've actually avoided his punches." Ichigo stated aloud, it's not like anyone else was around to hear him, probably gone to history class by now.

' **You always think of ways around stubborn pride after tha fact, doncha?'**

"Maybe a little too often."

' **Ya say that like you'll act any differently next time.'**

"Heh, I guess it's an old habits die hard thing. Where'd the fun be if I was so eager to change?" He questioned aloud, ignoring his frustration and wincing every time the wet cloth touched his head in his attempts to wipe off the blood.

"You know if people keep hearing you talking to yourself they might think you're a bit strange." Ichigo heard, surprised that he hadn't noticed Blake appearing in the doorway and berating himself for speaking to the Voice at loud. Weird looks was the one reason he kept his thoughts in his head.

"Says the one who'd rather immerse herself in a book than talk to others. I can worry about people thinking I'm weird because I talk to myself. You can deal with anybody that classifies being introverted as being weird." He quickly responded, trying to fix his earlier mistake by brushing it off as talking to himself.

He didn't expect Blake to take the conversation as an invite to walk in and sit down on the other bed next to him, seeing as the room had no other form of seating while Ichigo tried to wash off the blood.

"I thought you'd still be in class with the others by now." He stated, seeing as if it stayed silent much longer then it would've become awkward.

"Class finished a few minutes ago and I just wanted to talk to you. I was surprised about what you did before, with Cardin." She wasn't sure how else to approach the topic, seeing as Ichigo was the one person she had probably seen as a friend since their first meeting (as opposed to during or after the initiation) because he respected her boundaries and nothing she could relate to her past ever came up.

"You here to deliver a memo of detention or something? Doesn't matter, I would've done it either way." Frankly Ichigo was surprised no teachers had shown up in the cafeteria at the time that he floored the asshat, but maybe luck was smiling on him.

"No it's nothing like that. I guess I just wanted to ask why." She had the feeling she wouldn't need to elaborate, and her suspicions were confirmed true once Ichigo began speaking.

"As a kid I was as naïve as you thought Ruby was that night in the ballroom. I wanted a happy ending for everyone, and I wanted to be some great hero, because of my name. In an old language it means 'one who protects' or something along those lines. That name was the reason I always wanted to protect others." He stopped, taking a minute for his remembrance that left Blake wondering if it was as simple as that, because the real question wasn't why he was stopping Cardin. It was why he went out of his way like that to help a Faunus.

Blake was glad her friendship with Ichigo had been just that and nothing else. It never got too personal or anything and he never expected answers. It was purely the idea of friendships like that, and the ones she had with her team, changing if they found out what she was. And Ichigo's fight with Cardin opened up a door for her, possibly to try and glimpse if things would be any different if they knew about her heritage and past.

Oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil, Ichigo continued. "Of course, when I was old enough to understand it, I still didn't understand why the Faunus were, and are, looked down on. To me the idea of the racism going on between humanity and the Faunus was illogical and honestly dumb. Why would people spend so much time fighting over something as simple as race when it should just be people against the Grimm? Deciding which race is better or whatever crap like that means nothing if they all wipe each other out." He dabbed the wound on his forehead with the cloth.

"I guess that was about the time I started looking up to the White Fang, really." Now something like that made Blake's eyes widen as she looked at him, but still he continued.

"They were an example of what could happen if everybody worked together, and I thought that it would work, and frankly I still would if they hadn't gone down the path they had." His eyes, happy in remembrance of what he once idolised dimmed at the thought of what it had become. Nothing more than another distraction in the ever waging battle against Grimm that could lead to loss of life.

"But it isn't about stuff like that anyway. Being human or Faunus doesn't make a difference. It's who you are that counts, not to mention some good friends of mine are Faunus." That statement slightly surprised her, more so when Ichigo gestured to the bow on her head.

That made her fault, and freeze in shock of his implication.

"How did you…?" She wasn't quite sure of how else to react if he was implying what she thought he was by pointing at her bow.

"I've seen your bow twitch at least twice since I met you, couple that with the fact that anything involving Faunus seems to be a sore subject for you and the fact I've never seen you without the bow and you have a disguise that should really be noticeable to more people, your teammates at least." He was serious, how did people not notice that?

' **Jeez, nice to see you're totally takin' credit away from me for tellin' ya she was a Faunus'**

That led to a somewhat uncomfortable smile, seeing as the evidence towards Blake being a Faunus wasn't found by him, more pointed out to him by the Voice when the Voice let it slip while berating Ichigo for being unobservant.

Of course, the topic of her teammates knowing her secret was another pause for Blake, before she looked at Ichigo, half begging, half demanding "You can't tell them!" She hoped to trust Ichigo at least, but wasn't ready for the backlash of lying to her team about it (Mostly Weiss).

Her fears, however, were stopped by Ichigo, putting his hand on her shoulder and stating "I'm not gonna go blabbing about something like that. It's your decision and yours alone to make, but just know if you ever need somebody to talk to, I'm right here." He picked up the bowl he had been dipping the cloth in before leaving to clear it out, his face long since clean and dried of blood, leaving behind the appreciative (now confirmed) hidden Faunus.

That only left Blake with one thought.

What had happened to Ichigo's eyes back when he watched Cardin treat Jaune that way?

* * *

 **CHAPTER CONTINUES AFTER THIS AN**

 **Well this is weird. So mid-chapter AN Because you bet your ass we're doin Forever Fall in this chapter as well. Better a longer chapter than a regular chapter and then a short one. Or at least that was my original thought, seeing as I had never expected this to end up being the length of two chapters.**

 **So if anybody expected me to not have Ichigo fight Cardin in some form then you really don't pay attention to Ichigo's habits of getting into fights.**

 **This is more about the section afterwards. For the record I have no intentions of making pairings an incredibly relevant part of this story (so if they're there they'll be barely more obvious than anything in regular RWBY episodes) and this isn't a pairing-y thing.**

 **I'm more just exploring how Blake would've reacted to somebody sticking up for a Faunus like that, as well as her friendship with Ichigo. When Blake went to talk to him she wanted to ask him about why he ended up sticking up for a Faunus because she wanted to, as I put it, glimpse what would've been different if her friends knew she was a Faunus.**

 **And technically I did totally explain him finding her out as a Faunus because of the Voice so there's that explanation.**

 **Sorry if it ended up being a load of unnecessary dialogue or anything but that'll be up to you guys to decide.**

 **Not much else to say, just stick around for the actual end of chapter AN.**

 **(May or may not have put this AN as an interlude for a week-ish long time skip :P)**

* * *

It had been a week, both since Ichigo's talk with Blake about her being a Faunus, and the beginning of prolonged periods of absence on Jaune's part, confusing Ichigo.

Well, it _was_ confusing, until he found out Jaune had been hanging out with Cardin. Then it became enraging.

Unfortunately, due to the combined efforts of Ren and Pyrrha, it seemed he wasn't allowed to break Cardin's legs, so instead he went for a wander.

Well, technically he had been wandering around all evening, and was returning to his dormroom to rest before the field trip the upcoming day. Although upon reaching the point in the hallway in which he would've turned towards his room, his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Ruby saying "Hey Jaune." In her usual chipper attitude. That gave Ichigo pause and he chose to stop and listen, in hopes of figuring out what was up with his friend.

"Long time no see. Did you lock yourself out again?" Ruby continued, oblivious to the issues in the other team.

"Oh, uh, nope! Got it." He waved his scroll out, trying to act normal.

"So, where have you been lately?" Ruby was wondering where her friend had been disappearing off to recently as she had scarcely seen him with his own team.

"I, uh" He gave up all pretence of the word 'fine' and dropped his eyes to the floor. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have and now Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't even talk to me." He stopped for a moment before continuing, pretty much stating everything except his forged documents out loud. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He let himself slide to the floor against the door "And I'm a failure."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure."

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Hmmm, Nope."

"You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope."

' **I swear to Kami if the Rose doesn't start using another word as negative I'm going to come back with a pair of hedge trimmers'**

' _Gonna assume that's a guillotine by your standards'_

"Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, you might've even been a failure the first day we met. But you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uh, because…"

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune, we both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be dragging them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you. Have a good night Jaune."

Ichigo heard the door click shut behind Ruby, as well as Jaune opening his scroll and start playing a message from Cardin. "Fuck it." He said aloud, surprising Jaune before he walked around the corner and took the scroll from Jaune.

"Ichigo – What the?" He was tired and confused and needed to clear his head, something his teammate wasn't going to allow him time to do.

He could only do so much as yelp while the teen dragged him to the roof, he idly realised, as the same roof Pyrrha had offered to train him on.

Before he knew it Ichigo's sword was soaring towards him, and he could only let out a startled yell as he dived to the side.

"Ichigo, what the hell!"

"Draw your sword and fight." Was all he stated before charging Jaune again, and Jaune could only roll to the side and get a slice across the cheek. He really hadn't kept up with training, being unable to shield himself with Aura from that.

Said process continued for a few minutes before Jaune finally rolled to his feet, drawing Corcea Mors before bringing the sword up in a weak block against the blade, once more being knocked to the ground.

Jaune realised he wouldn't be able to even slow Ichigo down, let alone stop him, if he didn't go on the offensive, so he raised his blade in an overhead strike, which Ichigo sidestepped, before bringing Midnight around (when had he drawn the gun?) before bashing Jaune to the side with it, much similar to the same way Cardin beat Jaune.

"You have a shield, yet you can't protect yourself. How can you hope to protect others if you can't protect yourself?" Ichigo brought his blade down, and Jaune took the hint and brought his shield up to deflect the blade.

' _Y'know, this teaching method might actually have some merit to it'_

' **Whaddya expect? I did tell you it'**

' _And that is why I'm surprised Jaune isn't dead yet'_

Jaune rolled to his feet. And Ichigo expected this would be a very long night.

* * *

The forest of Forever Fall was a unique and beautiful place, named for its trees, with leaves coloured blood red and shades of orange, reminiscent of the fall season, giving the forest its name as the leaves colour never seemed to change.

' **This place would be real easy to hide blood stains in'**

' _Seriously?! I'm starting to think I might've been on track with the idea that you were a serial killer'_

' **I'm pretty sure we'd already established that I wasn't a goddamn wraith!'**

' _Yeah, yeah. You're a soul. I freakin' get that but that makes it infinitely harder to find out what you are seeing as you still won't answer any questions!'_

' **Those answers are your own to find out, without help. Either way, s'not like finding out has stopped you from getting my help, otherwise your leader would still be acting like the asshat's personal bitch'**

' _Purely because you suggested beating some training into Jaune forcefully would get the point across better than talking?'_

True to words, Ichigo had spent the better part of the late hours of the previous night (and the early hours of the next morning) putting Jaune through a metaphorical grinder. It seemed to have worked, at least marginally (one training session wouldn't make him the best), but it had brought him up in terms of ability more than having his shit kicked in by Cardin in combat class seemed to.

Speaking of Cardin, Ichigo could practically _feel_ the glare from the dumbass and his crew, seeing as their plaything had been taken away from them and they hadn't gotten rapier wasps that Cardin had wanted for payback against Pyrrha and Blake (for making a fool out of him in class) and Ichigo (for making a fool out of him in front of the rest of the school).

Of course, Cardin reasoned the fact that he wasn't blabbing Jaune's secret as that his team might react and start a fight, and Cardin didn't want to have to fight the 'Invincible girl' and her entire team.

He totally wasn't afraid of what Ichigo could do with that sword, especially after seeing _those eyes_. Nope, totally not.

So, he stuck to glaring.

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." Goodwitch spoke, seeing her students distracting themselves with the sights, mildly concerned that after she stopped, stopping her class behind her, that Jaune sleepily continued walking forward, nearly slamming into a tree before Ichigo grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!" She continued, finishing her instructions to the students.

' **Okay then. It's not just in a radius around you. I think every fucker under the sun in this world is bipolar.'**

"Hey Jauney-boy, mind helping us out?" Cardin took the opportunity seeing as the other teams had departed, with Jaune's own team walking ahead.

"No thanks, _Winchester_. I'll go with my own team if you don't mind." Jaune spoke, possibly stuck between anger at what Cardin had made him do, and out of confidence that he wouldn't let it happen again.

Ichigo would never deny enjoying the look on Cardin's face at being denied his whipping boy.

' _Fuckin' priceless'_

' **Jeez I must have the biggest influence on your swearing tendencies sometimes'**

' _I do not deny that statement'_

Of course, the sight of Jaune sticking out for himself against Cardin had made Pyrrha stop, which had consequently made Ren and Nora look back and stop seeing as they had moved so far ahead of the rest of their team. That and they still had to interrogate Ichigo for never returning the previous night, much like Jaune had been doing for the past week.

Cardin was angry at the turn of events, and in his rage he stated aloud "Well then, if you aren't willing to do what I say then you aren't sticking to our little deal that we made when I found out you snuck into Beacon. Looks like I get to go tell Goodwitch and get you on the first airship out of Beacon." Of course, said teacher had headed to the Bullhead, there to be alerted in case of emergency.

Of course, the statement of Jaune's secret only registered on Ren and Nora's faces, who didn't know about it. Jaune may or may not have admitted it to Ichigo as why he was doing so badly the previous night.

Cardin didn't even get the pleasure of seeing any shock on Jaune's face, with the blonde simply stating "If that's what happens then that's what happens. See, I talked with Ichigo last night and thought about another conversation we had a while ago. We both know Ozpin's a lot smarter than both of us combined, smart enough to play all of this in his hand. And we made an educated guess that he already knows about my transcripts." He stopped, allowing Ichigo to continue before gauging Cardin's reaction.

"So you can tell Goodwitch, or any of the other teachers all you want. Ozpin's the one in charge, and if he already knows, then I bet he'd find it pretty believable that you and your team were willing to use such information to extort another student into doing your entire team's work for you. Worst case scenario? Jaune's out of Beacon. But you and your entire team will be too. Best case scenario? Well, I already told you what that would be after a kicked your ass, didn't I?" Ichigo continued, and honestly, he wouldn't mind if this ended in a brawl because it meant he could show Cardin what would really happen if he ever gave any of his friends shit again.

' **Jeez, feels like I've affected your attitude towards picking fights, too'**

' _No, I just really want to beat the crap outta Cardin. I've got a month's worth of pent-up irritation to let loose and he seems like the easiest target that would deserve such a treatment'_

' **Or that.'**

Pyrrha was… honestly surprised. It wasn't that she was angry at Jaune, she was disappointed that he had declined her offer for help and put himself in this position. She was also proud that he had gotten stronger recently, at least in spirit, sticking up for himself.

Ren and Nora were surprised, having known nothing of forged transcripts or extortion, but seeing the look in Ichigo's eyes, and knowing Jaune not as a student or leader, but as a friend, they didn't need to care about any faked transcripts.

Of course, such arguments and statements, even going so far as threatening Cardin, enraged him. More than that, it made him furious. Cardin Winchester _didn't do_ being threatened. And in his fury, he chose to lash out at the nearest target, drawing his mace in a quick, sloppy swing towards Jaune.

Jaune's shield stopped the mace dead in its tracks, with Jaune barely losing an inch of ground.

"So it's going that way, huh?" Was Ichigo's statement, seeing Cardin's team ready to join in on the fight, either out of anger like Cardin, or possibly anger that their position at Beacon was also being threatened.

Ichigo cracked his knuckles and let a savage grin spread across his face. Time for a therapeutic ass-whooping.

Looking over to the rest of his team, he simply asked "Mind if I take them on? I need the exercise."

"If you can handle it." Pyrrha was content to watch her teammates fight it out, ready to intervene or alert Goodwitch if she had to.

"Y'know Ren, I think we should've brought popcorn." That combined with the nod from Ren pretty much summed up Ren and Nora's answers.

"So, three knuckleheads walked into a guy with a sword. Finish the joke." Was Ichigo's statement, stopping to draw his weapons.

Knucklehead #1 (The one with the Mohawk and the daggers) was the first to charge him, slashing out with both daggers. Ichigo backstepped each strike before slashing at one of his arms, causing him to drop one of the daggers, then batting the next strike away with Midnight before ramming the gun into his gut and releasing the blade.

Let it be stated that while the blade was meant to release with enough force to beat any Grimm's armour, it also worked wonders on Aura.

"Knucklehead #1 thought it would be funny to insult the guy's choice in weaponry, and got his ass handed to him. Next contestant?"

Of course, his statement would've continued with more taunting, had he not been forced to duck under the halberd that slashed over his head. These guys seemed to have forgotten he didn't have Aura. Shit.

' **Duck to the right!'**

Thank fuck for early warning sensors, as he rolled to the right as told a sword took the sport where his abdomen used to be. He needed to be faster.

Looking back, he saw his opponents (Knuckleheads #2 and #3) charging at him, with #2 bringing the halberd for another swipe at his side while #3 was coming in for a stab.

Thinking fast, because they were too close for comfort (and dodging), he stabbed his sword into the ground next to him while ducking under the stab before grabbing the arm of his attacker and throwing him over himself to the side. As predicted, the halberd was too far into its swing for a course correction, and after throwing #3 Ichigo was freed up to once more place his grip on the sword, holding it strong enough for the halberd to rebound off of it.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the three stooges of stupidity had been given too much time to recuperate while Ichigo took them on individually, or that would've been his explanation for being kicked in the back into the ground, vaguely acknowledging shouts of warning from his friends.

' **Must you need help with everything? Fine, but only because this is gonna be freakin' fun'**

He felt it again, rolling to the side as once more a sword stabbed into the ground he had once occupied.

"Y'know, it's not nice to fight so hard against one guy who doesn't have an Aura." He stated, feeling the power running through him again. His statements about lacking Aura sparked recognition in the eyes of the morons, but they still seemed willing to fight him.

He charged forward, faster than they had seen him move before, before knucklehead #1, once more the first victim, had a momentum powered fist slammed into his face, launching him back, knocking him out cold.

#2 was the first to react, bringing the halberd down in a swipe. Seemed they were no longer willing to use full force because he didn't have Aura.

He grabbed the halberd, at the same time pulling his sword out of the ground to counter a slash from #3 although when his hand touched the blade red energy once more surged through it, and when he slashed at #3's sword to counter Ichigo's sword halfway through it (leaving a rather large crack through the centre of the blade left by his sword), with Ichigo noting Midnight on the ground by his foot.

"What the -?" #3 managed to get out before Ichigo pulled, ignoring the blade of the halberd cutting into his hand, throwing #2 into #3, leaving them close enough together for him to kick Midnight up into his hands and let out a fire dust round point blank.

"Three knuckleheads walked into a guy with a sword. They got their asses handed to them on a silver platter, end of joke." He joked, seeing two more unconscious morons, before falling to his knees, energy leaving him. Definitely just like the Emerald Forest.

It was then he noted his team running over to him, with Jaune having concluded his fight with Cardin, barely winning. Ichigo also noted that Team RWBY seemed to have shown up due to the commotion caused by the fights and he noted the concerned looks from Ruby and Blake at his and Jaune's conditions.

"Ugh, we are so getting detention for this; you do know that, right?" He half joked at Jaune, eliciting a few chuckles.

* * *

True to his word, they had received at least some detention time, lessened when they explained that Cardin had instigated the fight. They were now sitting on the Bullhead back to Beacon, with Ichigo having wrapped his hand over the wound.

Once more, that power had saved him, and once more, it had cause questions to arise within him that he no longer wanted the answers to. He _needed_ those answers, and there was only one way to get them.

Distracting himself on other matters, he looked over to Jaune, who had finally taken to the second part of what Ichigo had told him to do and was trying to apologise to Pyrrha.

"Look, I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you with all that macho-bravado crap." Being around Ichigo and Ren had taught him that sometimes being blunt was the easiest answer.

"Apology accepted. My offer still stands though, although it seems you no longer need it." She stated, looking towards Ichigo, who was easily identifiable as why Jaune had changed his mind. Sometimes the only way to beat stubbornness is with more stubbornness.

"Yay, the Team's all good and back together. This calls for pancakes! Ren, can you make some pancakes?" Nora was giddy that her team was all good again, and she may have just seen a perfect opportunity to get Ren to make pancakes.

Ren sighed contently, stating "Fine, I'll make pancakes."

That of course, led to a hyper and celebrating Nora, seeing it as a complete and totally victory for her. Of course the mention of sweet foods had enticed Ruby, leading to her almost drooling at the idea of sweet foods, especially the idea of strawberries with pancakes.

Ren noticed this and let out another sigh, simply stating "I'll make enough for both teams then." It was rare that he made pancakes, and seeing as it was an occasion and he hadn't made any yet since coming to Beacon he may as well make extra for their friends.

The momentary distraction over (well it was still distracting as Ruby and Yang seemed to be celebrating, one for sweets and another for free food, with Weiss trying to contain the two with Blake looking on in amusement), Jaune looked back to Pyrrha before saying "Actually, I'll take you up on that offer, I think training with you will involve way less near death experiences and a bit more sleep at decent times." Getting a glance from Ichigo he simply stated "I think you're a sadist, dude."

"Eh, fair enough. I learned from the best." That got a chuckle out of Ren and a giggle out of Nora, seeing as it was Masaki he was referring to.

All was good indeed.

* * *

 **AN: This section should've been at the end of Players and Pieces, but the Author is a dumbass who thought this wasn't until the end of Forever Fall.**

* * *

In a warehouse in the more industrial area of Vale, Roman Torchwick was looking over plans, specifically to do with Dust robberies and heists.

Cinder really didn't give him interesting jobs anymore, seeing as the last interesting one was purely because a simple shop robbery had been interrupted by Red.

Putting down his radio, after hearing Cinder telling him that he wasn't getting enough Dust and that she would send him aid, he sighed before lighting a cigarette.

A member of the White Fang entered, carting a cart of cases, before Roman absentmindedly handed him the Lien, telling him to "Open it." He really didn't want to be scammed by animals that would probably stoop as low as rigging a box of Dust just to have one less human in the world.

Looking at the open contents, satisfied that he wouldn't be killed that day, he stated, to himself more than the White Fang member next to him, "We're gonna need more men."

"You're damn right you do, she really ain't happy that you aren't making enough progress, Torchwick." A voice answered him, much to Torchwick's annoyance.

"She sent you of all people?" Exasperated or annoyed would describe his feelings, or a blend of both. Could he trademark the word Exasperoyance?

"I'm here because you clearly need help seeing as the last robbery you showed up for was stopped by a little girl and you've been letting your goons do all the work since." The man revealed himself as a tall and lean-built man with fair skin, brown eyes, and shoulder-length dark hair combed back to the nape of his neck. The man wore dark trousers and a light sleeveless shirt, over which he wore his usual fur-collared dark jacket with his usual chain necklace with an X-shaped pendant.

"Well then, I guess it'll have to be a pleasure working with you again." Roman stated, hoping the man would leave.

"Indeed it will, Torchwick." The man said before disappearing in a flash of green light.

* * *

Ichigo slept.

And while he slept, he dreamt.

He felt himself impact with something, though he knew not what it was.

He couldn't see.

But he could hear.

" _And now you try to drag him here, to give him power he should not hold."_ A voice said.

" **S'not your decision to make old -."** The other voices statement was cut off with a roar of pain.

" _It is my decision. I failed before but I will not now. He will never be allowed this power."_ He could feel this voice turn to him.

" _You will not return to this place."_

His dream ended, and he was returned to dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **Teehee. I thought the section with Torchwick wasn't until the end of Forever Fall instead of Players and Pieces, but including it now means I can give you guys a double cliffie! :P**

 **So when I originally started this, I planned to do Forever Fall in the same chapter because I didn't expect the chapter to be so long, but between the section I put with Blake and the parts at the end.**

 **And I did say this, but sorry that I forgot to put the Torchwick section in when it was meant to be put in story-wise, but I genuinely thought it was at the end of Forever Fall instead of Players and Pieces.**

 **And once more, thank you all so much for continuing to read the junk I keep posting, and I highly encourage reviewing to give me input, or tell me where I've fucked up.**

 **I'm deliberately choosing to avoid explaining stuff at the end of the chapter to give you guys reasons to come back later, because shit is gonna get interesting, also warning for people who like Weiss in the current draft of the next chapter (which I intend to change) Weiss is kinda more bitchy and I think I've antagonized her a bit too much.**

 **Anyway, see ya next time :D**

 **(I honestly hate that I explained that Weiss point because now I'm gonna post this chapter and go change that one).**

 **After-note: Didn't include a Jaune vs Cardin fight based on the wordcount I had already reached, and I wasn't sure whether having Jaune able to beat Cardin straight out would be too much because he trained with Ichigo once, so I leave it up in the air for you guys to believe whether it went the same as canon or not.**


	15. Revelations

**somewhat? very? I don't know. Note at the end of the chapter.**

 **Another day, another chapter. Seriously. I'm starting this chapter after I finished writing the last one yesterday. I need a new hobby.**

 **Disclaimer**

 **I Do Not Own Bleach or Rwby. They both belong to their respective creators.**

 **I only own a mind that makes incredibly obscure references at the most random of times and the ability to generate innuendos that I just can't keep to myself.**

 **Anyway… On with the intro!**

…

 **I'm not writing an intro. Just go watch an AMV or something.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 8: Revelations**

* * *

The city of Vale was a large city, sharing the same name as its kingdom. The city was filled with many buildings, and the people that resided there. Buildings ranged from homes to bars to stores and everything in between.

Of course, said bustling city was more bustling than ever at this time of year.

The reason for the increased crowds? The Vytal Festival.

A festival held every two years to celebrate the cultures of the world, each time rotating to a different kingdom, and for the 40th celebration of the festival, it was being held in Vale.

Of course, that had led to school classes to train the students to prepare for the upcoming tournament, which would pit them against students from the other academies. It would also mean that students from other kingdoms would be arriving in Vale to prepare for the tournament.

That was why Team RWBY, accompanied by Ichigo, Ren and Nora, were walking through the streets of Vale towards the docks.

The reason why members of Team JNIPR were there? Weiss had made the idea of visiting Vale so appealing to Ruby that she thought it would be a nice idea to invite friends, leading to her inviting Jaune and his team, with Jaune and Pyrrha declining the invitation in favour of training Jaune.

Nora had agreed for the idea of exploring Vale, seeing as they hadn't actually found the time to do that since joining Beacon, which led to Ren coming to make sure Nora didn't get too crazy.

Ichigo had absentmindedly accepted the offer, his mind on other things, although he thought it would be a good idea to make sure Nora didn't drive the members of the other team insane (or more insane, as Ichigo had finally given up and realised he probably couldn't label a single person he knew as actually being sane).

And so, they explored Vale, with the three that hadn't had the chance to explore the city taking in the sights.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss exclaimed, in an incredibly happy manner, making Ichigo and Nora exchange somewhat fearful glances before Ichigo decided to voice the thought.

"Okay, stop that. Cheerful is weird on you." That got Weiss to turn around, about to retort, before Ruby added onto the statement.

"He's right y'know, I've never seen you smile this much before and it's kinda weirding me out." Surprisingly enough though, the heiress didn't even seem to be annoyed in her excitement.

"How could you not smile?" The question seemed rhetorical seeing as it was a festival and they generally where cheerful and fun things.

Then she ruined it by continuing "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, and a tournament! Oh the amount of planning and organisation that goes into this kind of event is simply breathtaking!"

The ending of that statement seemed to sour Nora's face from excitement to complete and utter boredom, but Yang voiced the unanimous thought before anyone else could.

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." The statement elicited smiles from those among the group, used to the banter among teammates.

Of course, said statement was continued by Nora "She's right, at first it was all cool and sounded fun like it had party food and stuff. Then you said planning and I kinda switched off." She ended with a sheepish smile, getting a laugh out of Ichigo.

"Oh quiet, you two." There was no real anger to back up her words, used to the members of the other team joining in conversations.

"Remind me why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks? I thought we were visiting to check out Vale." Yang questioned, generally looking bored at the idea of ships. Motorcycles were cooler.

"Ugh, they smell like fish." Ruby complained, holding her nose, and Ichigo vaguely acknowledged what looked like Blake's bow twitch from the mention of fish, causing him to chuckle, getting a look from said teen before he discretely gestured to the bow, getting an elbow in the ribs from the teen who managed to look slightly embarrassed.

"I've heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative of Beacon I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom." Weiss continued, unaware of the conversation, justifying her answer to Ruby's question. Of course, she couldn't really fool anyone with an explanation like that.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake stated, although more out of a sense of duty to point out the obvious seeing as everybody else was thinking it.

"Ah! You can't prove that!" Weiss stated, glaring at Blake, who held a small smile at the usual goings on in her team.

"Then wouldn't it be counterproductive to invite members of another team that you could participate against in the tournament to join you?" Ren questioned.

"Well Ruby invited you guys before I could say anything and -." Weiss would've continued speaking had Ichigo not interrupted her.

"And you totally just admitted to wanting to spy on people." He stated, giving Ren a high five.

The casual conversations would've continued had Ruby not looked down a nearby street to see a store with smashed out windows covered in police tape. "Woah" Was all she could say in response.

The other teens around here walked up to see what she was looking at, before a unanimous thought was shared and they all walked up to the store and the two officers present.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The first detective (who Ichigo would come to identify as sunglasses) answered.

Yang scoffed. "That's terrible."

"They left all the money again." Was the statement of the second detective (who Ichigo would come to identify as hair gel).

The statement sparked Ruby's interest, her mind travelling back to a Dust store robbery where no money was taken as Torchwick and his goons only wanted the Dust.

"Huh?" was her only statement to go with her intrigue.

Sunglasses responded to his partner "Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick o'sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, y'know what I mean?" Hair gel responded as his partner continued his thoughts.

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?" Of course, the topic of dealing with a terrorist organisation stealing Dust led to his partner's response.

"Ya I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough." Of course, the topic of the White Fang caused Ichigo to slip his gaze over to Blake, wondering what she thought about that subject; although it wasn't really something he could reasonably approach her with because the others present didn't know her secret.

"Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." Came Weiss statement, leading to Ichigo mentally facepalming.

' _I meant I wanted to ask Blake what she thought about the White Fang, not have Weiss make an in general offensive comment!'_

Of course, the usually expected comment on his ability to jinx himself never came, still surprising the teen, who hadn't heard the Voice in several days. Frankly it worried him.

While Ichigo was mentally berating himself for universal bad luck, the expected reaction happened, with Blake asking "What's your problem?"

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Honestly, Ichigo was somewhat surprised an argument like this hadn't happened sooner, but once he found out about Blake being a Faunus, her issues with Weiss on the first day had made a lot more sense.

Of course the heiress would having a less than stellar opinion on the White Fang (and unintentionally hold prejudice against other Faunus because of it) seeing as the White Fang didn't exactly have a good history with the SDC.

Even though Ichigo didn't really see a way you could tell a story about the Faunus and SDC without the SDC being the bad guys.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake justified, trying not to completely lose her cool against her teammate.

"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss only saw the bloody actions of the White Fang in modern times, and not any of the actions that forced them into that position, leading Ichigo to speaking.

"Yet you aren't even looking at why they want to do that. They put themselves in that position because they had to fight entire wars to earn the same rights as humans, and they're still treated badly. Besides, I think you're a little biased." Ichigo stated, cutting whatever Blake was about to retort off.

But before Weiss could continue on the topic, Blake decided to save her friend the hassle of arguing with Weiss by saying "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Hmm. Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him." Ruby said, continuing the thought (and hoping that a different topic would stop her friends from arguing).

"You mean that guy that was on the news about the time we came to Beacon?" Nora questioned, seeing as she didn't know the specifics of why Ruby got into Beacon early.

"Yeah, that's him. I kinda stopped him from robbing a Dust store and then Ozpin found me and invited me to Beacon." She said, still slightly embarrassed that it was blind luck of her being at the right place at the right time that got her into her dream school two years early.

"That is understandable, not to mention you once said your uncle was a teacher at Signal, which Ozpin could've used as a basis to allow you into Beacon. He did the same with us because we were trained by Ichigo's mother." Ren explained, likening them being able to skip the entrance exam because of Masaki to Ruby being moved ahead combined with her relation to a teacher.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss continuing her anger led to a facepalming Ichigo, mentally screaming.

' _We changed the topic; NOW SHUT UP PLEASE!'_

And still she continued, much to the detriment of the teen whose only justification for not being as angry at Weiss as he was at Cardin was because he technically considered her a friend and because her family had some bad blood. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

And…. Now Blake's glaring was visible, and Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down a bit, unaware of Yang's glances, before the blond stated "That's not necessarily true."

Of course, irony was a bitch in the grand scheme of things, with a yell of "Hey! Stop that Faunus!" interrupting the conversation.

Now Ichigo physically facepalmed. The universe couldn't just be kind, could it?

That lead to the seven teens running to the end of the street to see a blonde haired teen in jeans and an open shirt, wearing red gauntlets, identifiable as a Faunus by the monkey tail behind him, jumping onto the edge of a boat, before yelling out "Thanks for the ride, guys!" laughing to himself as he launched himself off the boat, running up the pier before jumping up a lamppost.

"You no-good stowaway!" A sailor exclaimed.

'Monkey-boy' (it was either that or 'Jungle Jim') responded from his perch, hanging upside down on the post, peeling a banana, saying "Hey! A "no-good" stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway!"

' _I find it depressing to know that I agree with that statement.'_

Silence.

' _Seriously. Nothing! No sarcasm, no snide or mildly offensive remarks? Come on, Insult me or something!'_

Giving up, Ichigo continued to look on as Detective Sunglasses decided the best approach to getting Monkey-boy's attention would be to throw a rock, easily dodged, before ordering "Hey! Get down from there this instant!"

To which the teen promptly responded by dropping a banana peel on the detective's face, leading to the older man visibly growling, while the teen swung onto the top of the post before leaping off and proceeding to climb the stairs.

Ichigo vaguely acknowledged he'd have to explain to Nora later if anything else funny happened while she wasn't looking, seeing as the banana on the officer's face had her bent over laughing (and crying).

And as the blonde teen passed them (did he seriously slow down just to wink at Blake?) Yang saw an opportunity to make a joke, simply saying "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."

That led to a brain restart from the heiress, seemingly forgetting her prejudices long enough to hold an arm up before exclaiming "Quick! We have to observe him!" before running off, leading to the other teens (including Ren who was almost dragging a still laughing Nora) bar Ichigo and Blake, with Ichigo stopping to say "Don't let her get to you, I'm still here to talk if you need to, you know that, right?"

Blake looked over to him, thankful to at least have one person on her side (at least that knew her secret) before responding "Yeah, I know, thanks for that. But I think I wanna talk about it later, not right now." The words took a second to register for Ichigo, before he realised she was referring to catching up with the others, leading to him running after Blake (who had run off while he was trying to figure out what she meant) and the others.

* * *

When he did catch up, it was to the sight of Yang asking an orange haired girl (why did people have hair colours similar to him so common here and so rare back home?) lying on the ground "Are you... okay?"

Before the girl responded "I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking." In a rather cheery voice… for somebody who was still lying down on the ground.

' _Voice, I really could use a reality check right now'_

Once more he went unanswered, seeing Yang ask "Do you… wanna get up?"

"Yes." was the girl's response. She then jumped up, causing everybody to take a step back.

"My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!" The girl hadn't lost her cheery personality, despite clearly having been knocked over by one of the other teens present.

That began the introduction.

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss"

"Blake"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" was quickly corrected via elbow to the ribs "Oh, I'm Yang."

"Lie Ren."

"Ichigo"

"…." No sound came, leading to the other teens looking around before Ichigo remembered the Emerald Forest and got a vague idea of what was about to occur.

"NORA!" came the yell from beside Penny. The fact alone that she hadn't been knocked over (or deafened) was definitely surprising to Ichigo and Ren.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" The cheerful girl continued.

' _Oh great, now I swear the apocalypse is coming. Somebody didn't call Nora strange and I'm sitting here wondering where the fucking Voice in my head is because I don't think I have anybody else sane enough to talk to!'_ Ichigo was incredibly close to banging his head into a wall until the world made sense again.

"You already said that." Weiss stated, somewhat reminded of how Ruby was at their first meeting.

"So I did!" Goddamn was there anything that could stop her from being cheerful?

"Well, sorry for running into you" Weiss apologised as they all turned to leave, with Ruby bidding goodbye "Take care, friend!"

"She was…. Weird." Even Yang was at a loss for words at the girl.

Of course, it really seemed like it wasn't Ichigo's day, as the topic wouldn't stick to something else, with Weiss saying "Now. Where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?" Luckily, the universe seemed to allow a small smile for Ichigo, seeing as Penny once more appeared before the argument could restart, asking "What did you call me?"

That led to a grinning Nora (possibly because somebody was both as eccentric as she was and had the same uncanny ability that seemed like teleporting) and a facepalming Ren (possibly seeing the same similarities).

Naturally, coupled with that was a frantic Weiss making gestures towards the fact that Penny had been behind them but had somehow gotten ahead of them without their noticing.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me." Yang justified, assuming the girl was referring to Yang calling her weird.

"That really doesn't make it better, Yang." Ichigo stated, seeing as none of the other contenders for 'most blunt student at Beacon' were going to say anything.

"No, not you… you!" she stated, getting a tad too close to Ruby for comfort, leading to a shocked statement of "Me?!" from the aforementioned teen.

Which promptly led to a round of 'social awkwardness kicks in at the most annoying times' or in layman's terms, a shitload of stuttering.

Luckily, Penny seemed oblivious to something like that, instead continuing "You called me "friend". Am I really your friend?"

"Ummmm….." Ruby was completely caught off-guard by the question, sending a gaze towards her friends, seeing her team (plus Ren, who seriously wasn't capable of dealing with another Nora) signalling negative, while Nora was grinning and nodding frantically while Ichigo just shrugged.

Unfortunately, the other teens signalling no instead turned to glare at him, seeing as Nora's vote counted as a yes and his would count as a maybe (and in Ruby's mind, more than one person voting would win out for an outvoted side. She may have been a crowd pleaser).

"Yeah, sure! Why not?" She responded, and Ichigo watched as the others (bar Nora) dropped to the ground was eyes like dinner plates and faces of despair.

Penny laughed in joy "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Of course, that had led to the only boys in the vicinity (Ichigo and Ren) choosing to back up to avoid becoming a topic of conversation.

Though it was less out of fear of women than having to deal with more than one person that acted like Nora.

"Was this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby questioned to Weiss.

"No, she seems _far_ more coordinated." The heiress responded.

"Soooo. What are you doing in Vale?" Yang chose to bring up another topic to avoid prolonged periods of awkward silence.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Was Penny's response, leading to a confused response from Weiss.

"Wait… you're fighting in the tournament?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny punctuated her statement with a salute.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Was Weiss response, more to the girl's lack of weaponry more than anything else.

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Was Blake's blunt response.

"It's a combat skirt." Weiss replied, crossing her arms while Ruby jumped in with a statement of "Yeah!" before they high fived.

"Is a combat skirt even a real thing?" Ichigo questioned.

"Apparently so." Ren responded.

"Wait a minute." Weiss stopped, walking to Penny. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?"

' _Oh no'_

"The who?" Penny responded, unsure of who Weiss was speaking of (even though said Faunus ran past her while he was being chased and that was the entire reason she had met the other teens).

' _You just let her continue to unintentionally speak down on him for crying out loud!'_

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss exclaimed, trying to get an answer so she could find out about her competitors.

' _Oh for the love of fucking –.'_

"Stop calling him that!" Penny's unsureness as to the monkey-Faunus' identity had let Weiss unintentionally continue her racist comments, and that had led to the anger from Blake that Ichigo had spent that afternoon trying to make sure didn't appear.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" If the pent up anger on the topic was anything to go by, Ichigo definitely agreed that he needed to have that talk he had promised Blake.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?" Weiss responded angrily. This topic definitely needed to stop before either one of them did something they'd regret.

Not to mention that friendship only went so far, and even Ichigo was getting pissed at Weiss, to the point that Ren could tell and somewhat pitied the heiress for the situation she'd put herself in.

"Weiss that's enough!" He yelled, enough to get both of them to stop to look at him.

"You're acting exactly like Cardin did." His voice had gone low, filled with anger at seeing friends fight like that, and his childhood tendency to make himself the target instead was the perfect way to change the topic.

"He broke the law, didn't he?" Weiss questioned. Unfortunately it seemed the topic of Faunus seemed to keep her in a bad mood for a prolonged amount of time.

"You judge him solely because he broke a single rule, would you do the same thing if a human stowed away on a boat? You judge just because you have an example to liken him to." He was as blunt as ever, but that didn't seem to work against Weiss in her state of anger that had built up into prejudice through her life.

"So you admit that there's a link between that Faunus and the White Fang?" She bent his words against him.

"Yeah, I am I guess." That allowed Weiss a moment of glory before he continued.

"I'm saying that so many Faunus just like him were backed into corners by humans, who gave them shit for something they couldn't control. I'm saying that's the reason Faunus join the White Fang." Ichigo chose to be blunt at a point like this, seeing as the heiress wasn't getting what he was trying to say.

"Exactly! He broke the law and that undoubtedly means it probably won't be long until he joins up with those other Faunus in the White Fang." Weiss was too opinionated on the subject to realise she had completely missed the point of what Ichigo was trying to say.

Unfortunately, it seemed Blake also had to get a word in on that opinion, seeing as her thoughts were pretty much summed up by Ichigo "Argh! You ignorant little brat!" she exclaimed angrily, before walking off, and Ren took the opportunity to grab Ichigo and make sure they did the same before his friend started getting angry.

* * *

It was getting dark by the time the three teams had returned home, having gotten an earlier airship than Team RWBY did, so the three teens had arrived at their dorm, with Ichigo choosing to sit in the corner and pick up the next study he had on Aura, which involved meditation. Ichigo was too irritated to actually attempt it, or even read, so he just stared at the words.

"What's up with him?" Jaune asked, sitting on the bed somewhat exhausted. Pyrrha didn't train him like Ichigo did (dear lord she didn't, she actually _taught_ instead of trying to kill him and giving hints through berating him, even if Ichigo's training helped a bit when he fought that Ursa in Forever Fall), but he was still tired out after an afternoon of training after classes.

"He's a little bit…." Ren couldn't really find an appropriate word that would describe Ichigo seeing as the teen was finally confronting an anger he'd had since his childhood.

"Completely pissed off?" Surprisingly it wasn't Ichigo who offered that, instead being Nora, who knew that was exactly what her friend was feeling. Before Ren could offer a statement of "Something like that" or anything along those lines, Nora's statement got a grunt of affirmation from Ichigo.

"May we ask what happened in Vale?" Pyrrha was respecting her teammate's privacy, but something had obviously ticked him off.

"An argument with Weiss involving less than stellar opinions on racial tensions between humans and Faunus." That was the best way Ren could describe it without outright saying that Ichigo had, by the end of it, started seeming angry at the topic. Ren understood his friend always was against the treatment of Faunus but he had only ever seen Ichigo get that angry when he was protecting somebody, not just an ideal.

"Oh, that's unfortunate." Pyrrha could only offer that much without picking a side between her friends, and she couldn't even do that with the minimalist amount of details Ren had offered.

"Ichigo, I think you should take a break and get your mind off it, go for a walk or something." Ren suggested, still questioning why his friend had been so angry before.

"I guess so. See you later then I guess." The teen stated before pulling on his coat, weapons attached, and departing from the dorm room.

He chose to wander around to find a spot to clear his head, idly noting Team RWBY as he walked past them, receiving a glare from Weiss while she and Blake continued to argue (maybe another irrational thought made her blame him for this). He chose to give Blake a pat on the shoulder just to remind her that they were still due for a talk, before he continued walking, getting apologetic looks from Ruby and Yang.

It wasn't long until he found a place to settle down and think, stopping at a bench on the walkway up to the school, where a statue located, depicting a Huntsman and Huntress killing an Ursa.

"Meditation, huh?" He wondered aloud, before setting himself in the closest thing he could call meditation on the bench, before trying to calm himself.

Of course, calm was not the word he would describe himself as, seeing as his mood turned to exasperation when he opened his eyes and was once more met by a colourless world, only the dark hue of blackness moving through the air like heatwaves in his sight.

Well, that and a glowing yellow in the trees nearby, although it was more an energetic yellow than a burning one that he had given the assumption of being Yang's after the Emerald Forest when he first ended up in this place.

Speaking of…

"Okay, seriously. Where the hell am I?" This place confused him. He didn't have Aura, so there was no way it could be a Semblance, but if it wasn't a Semblance, then what was it?

He closed his eyes and focused, not noticing parts of the world crumbling around him, and then he felt _something._

He tried to reach out and grab what he had felt, and when he did… he felt rage. And when he thought on it, he was somewhere else.

Four colours.

Red.

White.

Purple.

Yellow.

If any of his memory stuck from the Emerald Forest, then this was Team RWBY?

Okay, this was seriously surreal, what the hell was going on?

"Hello?" He spoke again, vaguely noting that this time it was his voice that he heard, not the other one.

They didn't hear him, and when he moved, they didn't see him.

"And every day, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood." It was distorted to him, but that was definitely Weiss' voice.

Okay, this was weird and Ichigo seriously wished he wasn't hallucinating. Not to mention it felt like a slight invasion of privacy on the other team.

"Weiss, I –." The red one, clearly Ruby by colour, if not voice, tried to talk to Weiss, but the heiress hadn't seemed to recover from her earlier arguments on the topic.

"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!" That statement alone both angered Ichigo and made him feel sorry for Weiss. Her anger was because people around her had died because of her name, where Ichigo had assumed it to be built in prejudice from how the SDC had treated Faunus workers in earlier years.

Of course, the other perspective in Ichigo's mind was the one that spoke out loud. "Oh shit."

What he assumed would happen struck true with the purple one, being Blake's, angered yell of "Maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Ichigo didn't hear what went on as any sounds of what was happening never reached him, all he saw was Blake run before everything collapsed around him.

* * *

He felt himself fall once more, but this time he braced himself.

" _Once more you return here."_ The voice from before greeted him, although it seemed younger than before. He realised he had forgotten until now, that the dream when he first heard this voice was the last time he heard The Voice.

Damn that was confusing.

Pushing himself off the ground, he demanded "Where the hell am I!?"

He did not expect to be greeted by the sight of a teenager, close to Ichigo in height and age, with a slim build and ragged black hair with brown highlights wearing a hooded robe.

"Who the hell are -." Ichigo's demand ended with a grunt of pain when the teen in front of him uppercut him into the ground.

Wait, ground?

The place they were in, it seemed like an open grassy field surrounded by trees, not unlike those around his home town. The most eye catching thing, however, was the monotone blue skyscraper that emerged from a chasm in the centre of the area, reaching to heights where he could no longer see the top.

He then realised that he had been standing on that tower, or more accurately, on the side of it.

His confusion was interrupted when the teen appeared in front of him in a flash of noise, slamming Ichigo into the ground.

" _I told you before that you would not return. He did not drag you here this time, you came of your own volition, through that barrier plane. How foolish."_

"He? Who are you talking about?"

" _Hn. It seems that the hollow spoke to you of nothing. No matter. I will make this very simple."_

Ichigo's mind was racing. What hollow? Spoke to him?

Then it came to him

' _ **Learned that one from the biggest bastard of a fortune cookie you'll ever have the displeasure of meeting, cuz' it looks like you just set yourself on a dead straight course to meet him, so be ready, amateur.'**_

The memory hit him like a sledgehammer.

The teen in front of him was talking about the Voice when it said Hollow, it was the only thing that made sense (at least somewhat), and Hollows were the only other creatures identifiable as at least having a relation to the soul with their ability to absorb them. Otherwise the only way Ichigo could've had another soul inside him would be if he physically had the soul of another person inside him (obviously a theory that was barred seeing as it didn't have the voice of a regular person).

This entire time since his childhood he had been accepting the help of a Hollow inside him. And said Hollow had gone out of its way to warn Ichigo about the man in front of him.

" _You come to revelations about your own soul far too late."_ He threw Ichigo again, and Ichigo once more heard the roar from his earlier dream (forgotten until now, the thoughts out of his reach much like his first experience with that power in the Emerald Forest) before slamming into the ground… right before a carbon copy of himself, bleached white with yellow eyes and black sclera.

Along with the hole through his chest.

" **Bastard, I told ya this wasn't your decision!'**

He yelled in futility. He had originally not wished to help the kid, but the more he fought, the more similar he seemed to the King. But by the end when he had almost chosen to give his name it was the Old Man that had stopped him, and the Old Man was the reason why he could no longer move, only yelling futilely from his spot kneeling on the ground.

" _And yet it is not yours. If it is a decision which neither of us can make, I guess one of us must break that rule."_

" _He will not have this power. He lacks the will, the resolve and the need for this power. I will absorb you to make sure he doesn't achieve it."_ Even though he held Ichigo against the ground (side of the building, whatever), Ichigo knew what the man said next was addressing him.

" _If you return to this place, I will kill you."_ As if to answer any statements Ichigo may have had about this place not being real, an oversized pitch black trench knife slashed across the side of his face.

* * *

He awoke, and felt the blood drip down his face.

What the hell had just happened?

He had a Hollow within him.

He had something else within him.

They were why he couldn't access Aura.

He was hyperventilating.

It was only when his breathing had finally stopped that he realised Blake and the monkey-Faunus were standing in front of him, with Blake's hand held up and the stinging on his face it was pretty clear she had smacked him out of it. It was also then that he noticed she wasn't wearing her bow, instead freely showing a pair of cat ears.

Would've been less surprising if more animals had ears that could fit under a bow like that. He chuckled to himself at the thought, before remembering earlier experiences and his own and deciding.

"So I guess we're getting away from Beacon for a bit, aren't we?"

* * *

 **Okay, not a very exciting chapter, apart from the last little segment it was my own take on canon events.**

 **The situation and death threat from the Quincy portion of Ichigo's power will be fully explained in the next chapter before I start getting confused or annoyed reviews about it.**

 **And on to the part I'm most concerned about in this chapter, being the argument with Weiss. While she does seemed completely prejudiced it is shown as being because of her upbringing and how it was affected by such things, and I tried to reflect that.**

 **That leads to another thing people will notice between this chapter and the next, being that I'm actually including Weiss' contemplation about what is revealed in this chapter, because it bugged me that she was continually antagonizing Blake throughout Black and White and the moment they show up at the docks all is well with no explanation.**

 **Guest:**

Was that therapeutic ass-whooping line a Bleach (S) abridged reference?

 **Yes, yes it was.**

 **Kestes:**

Damn! I'm seeing a repeat of The Little Girl and her Vase incident from this chappy. Bloody love it!

Seems like the Old Man didnt learn his lesson from the first time. Then again.. It wouldnt be interesting if he didnt.

Great job with the chappy as usual :)

Regards,  
Kes

 **No idea what the little girl and her vase was, but the plotline with the Old Man is one of the few I've been sitting on for a while, thanks for the continued support. (that moment when I realize the font size changes because I'm copying and pasting reviews, but CBA to do anything about it -_-).**

 **As an overall as a few reviews mentioned it last chapter, I was really unsure about decisions I made last chapter and I will be sure that there aren't any more AN's in the middle of chapters anymore.**

 **Guest:**

This story is really great. Finally a story where the main character isn't having one of those damn harems or where the focus lies on stupid romance. This is a man's story. With manly action.

And you hint at old man "Zangetsu" at the end. Sweet!

Keep this up! This is one of the few stories one can actually enjoy reading on this site.

 **Thanks for the support, and in order: I detest harems, can't write romance, and I'm still unsure of my own ability to write action, but if you like it that means I'm doing something right, so thanks :D (and really if this is one of the few stories you can enjoy I'm not sure you're looking hard enough XD)**

 **As for any guest reviewers (one in particular) who aren't being replied to, I'm choosing not to answer your question as you guessed the identity of the mystery man with Torchwick last chapter in one attempt (although it is easy to deduce who it is if you compare physical descriptions with the wiki).**

 **Last but not least, the Note I left for last:**

 **Next chapter is gonna be the Volume 1 finale, and is already over 10K words (and still incomplete). My plan after uploading this chapter is to take a break from uploading for an undecided amount of time. I'm not abandoning this story or dropping it to write another, I'm just giving myself a break, but don't worry because it also means I have time to write chapters for when I come back. I love writing this story and the folks who read it too much to just drop it.**

 **Anyway, reviews are appreciated and I'll see ya next time :)**


	16. Black and White

**Okay, so another chapter that I'm starting to write before the previous chapter is even posted.**

 **Side note: RWBY timelines confuse me, so this takes place the day after the last chapter (purely because they say Blake is missing for the entire weekend which is kinda confusing seeing as they don't go after her the next day or something).**

 **Anyway, Disclaimer!**

 **TheTechnoMage does not own any of the stuff in this story that takes in-depth creation, all he has is his own shitty plot ideas and badly written perspectives. The only worthwhile possession to his name is a stupid amount of playtime on Skyrim and Shadow of War, one of which he is probably going to go play after this.**

 **Afterthought – Oh, shit, this means I'm gonna have to try and write Rooster Teeth level fight choreography, so look out to watch that go badly.**

* * *

 **Volume 1: Chapter 9: Black and White**

* * *

It was the next day when Team JNIPR began their day as normal, getting ready for the typical Saturday which would've been spent in whatever way everybody agreed on, whether catching up on studying, training, or exploring.

Of course, after the team had completed usual morning rituals and suchlike, then came the hardest decision of the morning.

Who was gonna wake Ichigo up?

Jaune was the first to raise up his hands in surrender, unwilling to subject himself to such a fate "I've already been slugged across a hallway and through two doors once, I don't think I wanna do it again." His surrender was immediately followed by Nora's, the usually energetic girl wanting to avoid waking the sleeping carrot-top at all costs.

That left Ren and Pyrrha, with the two exchanging a glance, before beginning the usual routine (seeing as this always happened when it came to waking Ichigo up).

"Rock, paper, scissors!" Both teens whisper shouted in relative sync, before fate decided Ren as the unlucky one of the day, and Ren pre-emptively activated his Aura before moving towards the hammock in the corner of the room.

Only to find it empty and breathe a sigh of total relief, before the question donned upon him.

"He's not here, so where is he?" He hadn't seen Ichigo after suggesting the teen take a walk the previous evening, but Ichigo never got up early, so where was he?

That brought booing from Nora, seeing as there wouldn't be another victim for Ichigo's wake ups, before Jaune went to the topic at hand, suggesting "Maybe he's already gotten up?"

Naturally, the suggestion of Ichigo getting up early brought chuckles from Ren at such impossibility and the exclamation from Nora of "No way!"

"Well perhaps we should look for him?" Pyrrha asked, back to the matter at hand rather than the usual bantering among teammates. While she hadn't known the orange haired teen longer than they had been teammates, only officially being introduced the day they had become teammates, the out of ordinary action was concerning.

"I'd guess so" Ren dryly responded, before opening the door and stepping out with his teammates in tow.

To be immediately greeted by Team RWBY, also exiting their dorm, and also missing a member.

"Hey guys." Jaune greeted, killing the momentary awkwardness between the teams.

"Hey Jaune, we were just – uh -." Ruby began stuttering, unable to form an adequate lie to justify their lack of a teammate.

"So where's Blake?" Nora questioned, interrupting Ruby's thoughts.

"It's not like we know. She ran off yesterday after practically admitted to being a member of the White Fang." Weiss stated bitterly, pretty much killing any of Ruby's attempts to justify the absence of their teammate. Or in the way it came out of Ruby's mouth, the miffed exclamation of "Weiss!"

That statement led to surprise written across the faces of the other team, but before questions could be asked the heiress continued.

"She did! Anyway, what's the reason for your team missing one of its members?" She questioned with arguments from the previous day still fresh in mind.

"I'd just guess nobody wanted to wake Ichigo up again." Yang joked, at least trying to lighten the mood. Looking for Blake would probably be a lot easier if they could get help from the other team, seeing as Weiss pretty much spilled the beans on what was meant to be an internal team matter.

"Actually, Ichigo's gone too." Jaune said, somewhat acknowledging that the two disappearances could be related, or probably would be seeing as Ichigo had sided with Blake in the previous day's disagreements, if what minute details he had been given were any indication.

"I'm guessing this is the part where we decide it would be better to search for both of them as a group?" Ren stated, out of duty as the only blunt one present.

"Yeah that would help a lot." Ruby said quietly and lamely.

* * *

"It's not like they'd have gotten far, they only disappeared last night, right?" Ruby questioned out of hope in finding their friends.

"It's not like they're little kids, I'm sure they can handle themselves." Weiss stated. Truthfully after the reveal she wanted to reflect on her own thoughts after realising some of the things she had said the previous day.

"Weiss, come on. They're our friends." Yang stated, somewhat annoyed by the relaxed nature of the heiress regarding the situation.

"Is she? We all heard what she said." Weiss stated, referring to Blake, causing Ren to speak up.

"This is what Ichigo spoke about yesterday. You speak against Blake because of what she admitted, yet you say nothing against Ichigo, even though by the end of it your argument was primarily with him." It's not as though Ren wasn't concerned about Blake and whatever she may have admitted, but Ichigo was more of a primary concern, seeming somewhat out of it the previous day.

The heiress thought a second before responding "Well maybe I'm just more concerned about the situation in my own team rather than others. Blake essentially revealed herself as a terrorist whereas Kurosaki has his beliefs and I have mine, simple as that."

Weiss received incredulous looks from some of her friends, those who noticed that even the heiress seemed somewhat unsure of her own words.

"Maybe she is our friend, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing and we need to find her." Yang brought the topic back to what it had originally been, finding their friends. She was concerned and worried about her partner.

Weiss elected not to speak after that, lost in her own confusions and thoughts, the only thought among them spoken by Ruby "I just hope they're okay."

* * *

His mother had always taught him that sometimes just stopping and looking back at something would help you find things you never noticed before, things that would go unnoticed and small observations that could lead to whole new discoveries.

And so he reflected.

After the arguments of the previous day, he had left to go cool his head. In an attempt to cool off he tried to have a go at the next (probably futile) attempt to unlock his Aura, through meditation. Except somehow he ended up in that strange place, described as a 'plane' by the being within him.

Within that plane he was somehow capable of seeing Aura, and if what he remembered was anything to go by, he had actually managed to transport himself (within that plane) to a location of strong emotion.

This shit was confusing and incredibly strange.

Then, after hearing an argument that really wasn't his place to hear (finding out Blake was an ex-member of the White Fang didn't even register on his weird meter, seeing as it actually made more sense than anything else that had happened that evening), he found himself in a world filled with grassy plains with an impossibly tall skyscraper through the middle, reaching as high as could be seen in the sky and falling into a bottomless chasm in the ground, leaving the tower seeming infinite.

Then he had the complete and utter shit kicked out of him by a teenager inside his head.

Scratch what he said before; this shit was really confusing and infinitely strange.

Then the teen had confirmed something that Ichigo had been trying to piece together for years, that being what The Voice was.

He held a Hollow within him. That thought alone terrified and pained Ichigo. On one point this was a Hollow, and that alone was reason to be scared, seeing as they were monsters that devoured souls. On another point it pained him. The Voice had become like a part of him, always there, dare he call it a friend or ally, and one fact had destroyed that.

That led to Ichigo's own thoughts on what the other being was, the one that had threatened his life and was _absorbing_ the Hollow, if what it said was anything to go by.

All in all, shit was confusing, weird and terrifying, but before the thoughts could continue he heard Blake's voice saying "So, you wanna know more about me." Her statement cut off all thoughts and brought Ichigo back to where he was, sitting at a café in Vale at a table with Blake and Sun (who had named himself somewhere around the time they were on the airship to Vale).

"Finally, she speaks!" The monkey Faunus exclaimed.

"We've been here since yesterday and you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks, and he hasn't said a word since his little freak out yesterday." The last statement referring to Ichigo, who was more concerned about the revelations of the previous day than making small talk.

Of course, the comment about weird looks caused Blake to stop and glare at Sun, who simply responded "Yeah! Like that."

"Sun… are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake decided to start at the beginning, and seeing as Ichigo seemed to know a decent bit about the Fang's history it would be best to start on what Sun knew.

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me." Ichigo couldn't even be bothered to facepalm anymore, seeing as Blake didn't seem angry like she had when Weiss had talked down about the White Fang.

"I was… once a member of the White Fang." Blake stated, not really surprising Ichigo, who had seen the tail end of her conversation with her teammates that led to her running through that other 'plane'.

Blake looked over to him after her statement, as if looking for a visible response but not finding one, although she was interrupted by the coughing and choking of the blonde opposite her.

"Wait a minute, _you_ were a member of the White Fang?" Sun asked in surprise (after he finished choking on his tea).

Blake continued, and Ichigo decided it would be better to listen without interrupting.

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it." Easier to be vague than outright say her father had led the organisation previously.

"Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected do discrimination and hate." Yep, that sounded pretty much like what Ichigo had been so enamoured with reading about as a child.

"Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I actually thought we were making a difference… but I was just a youthful optimist…" Ichigo likened her opinion of youthful optimism to how she acted towards Ruby on the eve of the initiation, calling her a child. Blake spoke that way because if her words were anything to go by, she was once the same.

That led to a strange thought of a bubbly and cheerful Blake, and Ichigo was weirded back into listening.

"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour. And the worst part? It was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect… out of fear." Her story finished, Blake looked down in recollection of all she had done, although she did choose to leave out that her father was the former leader of the White Fang, seeing as she still didn't forgive herself for leaving her parents the way she did.

"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little, black bow." Blake understood what Ichigo meant, it at least felt like some weight had been lifted from her shoulders because she had shared her secret with a friend (she wasn't sure what to think of Sun just yet, not much thought was put in before deciding to follow the other Faunus while leaving Beacon). She sat there, waiting for whatever response she would have earned, possibly somewhere deep down expecting hatred or prejudice.

The malice or judgement never came, and Ichigo spoke, his response genuine in questioning at his friend's story. "You hide to be seen as an individual instead of seen for your race. I understand that but I still think it's idiotic. Why would you of all people care what everybody thinks about you? You have friends, and if you told them they'd accept you either way, so why wear the bow in the first place?"

Blake didn't seem sure of her answer, and Ichigo was happy to be given a distraction to his own personal issues. He would help Blake with this, and then he'd figure out his own issues, because his problems had to be solved alone.

* * *

"Blaaaaaake!" Ruby called out.

"Blake!" Yang called.

"Carrot top!" Nora screamed, undoubtedly winning in a contest of noise.

"Weiss, you're not helping!" Ruby wanted to get her partner to talk about what had been bugging her, as well as sort out the issues between Weiss and Blake, but that wouldn't happen until Weiss involved herself as a friend and teammate instead of just being along for the ride.

"Oh! You know who might be able to help? The police." Weiss was trying to hide her own thoughts regarding the matter of her teammate, instead giving responses that seemed appropriate (more appropriate in her mind after nothing had been done about the Faunus that stowed away on a boat).

Although appropriate in her mind didn't really translate that way to anyone else, getting an "Ugh. Weiss…" From Ruby, leading to the heiress retorting with "It was just an idea!" although one she had said on the spot to distract from the fact she wasn't listening too much.

"Yeah, a bad one." Ruby responded, not slowing down in her wander through Vale as they searched.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before jumping to conclusions." Yang justified, trying to make sure Weiss didn't do exactly that. It was bad enough what had meant to be a team matter had gotten JNIPR involved, even if beneficial to both teams with a missing member.

Weiss chose not to respond to that, somewhat agreeing with Yang in her own inner turmoil. Said turmoil would've continued, had a random statement from behind them not successfully surprised the teens present into alert.

"And I think that Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!" came the exclamation from behind them.

Results were instantaneous.

Jaune had been scared shitless and jumped into the nearest pair of arms, being Pyrrha's.

Ren had groaned and facepalmed while Nora had grinned and ran to hug the other girl.

And the present members of Team RWBY had jumped in shock and turned with Ruby quickly exclaiming "Agh! Penny! Where did you come from!?"

"Hey guys, what are you up to?" Penny managed to reach an arm out of Nora's grasp to wave, seemingly unfazed by the other orange haired girl before Ren reached out to grab her by the collar and drag her back.

"Um, who is this?" Jaune questioned, before realising his position and gingerly climbing out of Pyrrha's arms.

Jaune was ignored in favour of Ruby failing at coming up with a lie about what they were doing (again) and Yang choosing to tell the truth to save time "We're looking for our friend Blake."

"Oh! You mean the Faunus girl!" Penny stated, remembering the girl from the previous day, although her statement drew confused looks from all of the present teens.

"What, how did you know that?" Ruby questioned.

"Uh, the cat ears?" Penny stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Which it was proven to be the moment Yang dumbly replied "What cat ears? She wears a … bow…" That seemed to trigger realisation among the teens, causing a moment of awkward silence among the teens.

"Ooooh, tumbleweed!" Nora said happily, attempting to run off and grab it before once more being grabbed by Ren.

"So, where is she?" Penny questioned, seemingly not realising that the teens had said they were looking for her and that would imply they didn't know where she was.

"We don't know, they've been missing since yesterday." Ruby said.

"They?"

"Ichigo kinda went missing as well." Jaune stated, trying to get a foothold in the conversation long enough to find out who the hell he was talking to.

Naturally, he was ignored as Penny ran up to Ruby with an overly dramatic gasp before speaking "That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate. And your friend!" She added as an afterthought, trying not to sound insensitive.

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, uh, but we're-we're okay. Really. Right guys?" Ruby responded, trying to avoid having another friend get involved.

Although her question relying on her friends being present led to her looking over, only to find Nora standing there holding Ren in a headlock, while the other teen simply stated "They grabbed Pyrrha and Jaune then ran." He left out the part where he also tried to run before being contained by his partner.

* * *

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked as they walked through the streets of Vale, idly wondering if he'd gotten himself involved in something over his head just by stowing away on a boat instead of arriving with his teammates.

Sun idly remembered several occasions with his team when he got into situations over his head and Neptune ended up dragging him out (or any other member of his team). Although Neptune tended to not be helpful when water was involved, hence why Sun was alone on that boat, having not been with his other teammates at the time instead leaving Neptune to tell them they'd meet in Vale.

In retrospect he probably didn't think because he thought Blake was cute. At least he didn't have Neptune's flirting tendencies.

Blake adopted a thoughtful gaze before speaking "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before." The White Fang never launched large scale operations that needed such firepower, instead sticking to petty crime often enough to keep their reputation to be feared.

"But there's no denying the possibility, just because something sticks to a pattern at one point in time doesn't mean it will forever." Ichigo stated, adding his two Lien to the conversation.

"He has a point." Sun stated aloud, before elaborating "The only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go if they were to do it, and not find them there… right?"

"Okay, his lacklustre explanation aside, that sounds like a half-decent plan." Ichigo agreed, Sun's confusing explanation ignored. If they could find somewhere the White Fang would rob, though, otherwise the plan would be a complete bust with random guessing.

"Half decent? Come on, man, I'd like to see you come up with something better." Sun challenged in mock offense to being doubted.

"Hang around just about any of the many Dust stores in Vale, or set up a camera?" Ichigo realised it did sound lame no matter what way he put it, but it was thought of on the spot (regardless of his earlier thought on random guessing).

"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be." Blake continued, cutting off the conversation between the two guys present. _'Boys will be boys'_ she supposed.

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." Sun responded, pleased he had come up with a plan that could work, he wasn't a team leader for no reason after all.

"You could've just started with that, y'know. Although I guess there are some upsides to constant lawbreaking on your part." Ichigo bluntly responded, considering that would've prompted the plan in the first place.

"How huge?" Ichigo couldn't tell if Blake was more focussed on finding out what was going on in the White Fang or if she was just ignoring the parts where he and Sun talked.

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter." Sun replied, glad his plan was being listened to, at least it worked better than when he'd first become a team leader.

"That literally says nothing at all about the size of the Dust shipment." Ichigo deadpanned.

"You're sure?" Blake questioned, seeing this as an opportunity to answer her hope to prove the White Fang hadn't fallen so low.

* * *

"Thanks anyway!" Yang said cheerily, before closing the store door, letting it chime. She then let out a scoff, most of the day spent searching a not a single clue, "This is hopeless." Before seeing Jaune and Pyrrha return, with Jaune's answer to the unasked question "Still nothing." And here Jaune thought somebody with such bright hair would be easy to find.

"You really don't care if we find them, do you?" Yang questioned towards Weiss, seeing the heiress once more looking at the ground instead of helping.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her." Weiss responded, still questioning herself on the events of the previous day.

"And the fact that Ichigo is probably with her means nothing to you?" Jaune questioned. He understood Weiss probably would've had issues with this if it was only Blake, but Ichigo had no links to any of that White Fang stuff so why would Ichigo have been dragged along?

"I – I. Alright, I don't know. I understand that we're teammates and all but hiding something like this from us? From all of us? After all this time at Beacon I've started seeing it less as a team and more as my friends but finding out that she kept something like this is just -. I don't know." She chose to be outward about her thoughts that had plagued her that day.

They had been at Beacon as a team for months and after all that time the heiress could only see them as friends. That was what had left such a conflict inside her when she found out that one of her friends kept a secret like being a member of the White Fang from them.

"It sounds to me like you've got a lot to decide, but I'd remember the times you've shared before you put unfounded accusations based on family history. You saw her as a teammate and friend before a member of the White Fang. The choice of which order you see her in now will be up to you to decide." Pyrrha said, seeing the conflict on the heiress' face.

Indeed, decisions would have to be made.

* * *

"So, Blake is your friend?" Penny questioned, continuing to walk with Ruby and Nora (who was dragging Ren, who made an attempt to flee every now and then).

Ruby sighed, both at the amount of time they had spent with no clues and at her own conflict about her teammate before answering "Yes Penny."

"But you're mad at her?" Penny questioned, unable to understand friends being mad at each other.

"Yes! W-well, I'm not, Weiss is." Ruby responded hastily, somewhat letting slip her own dissatisfaction that Blake couldn't come out and tell her friends something like that. After all, they were friends, weren't they?

"Is she friends with Blake?" Penny continued to question.

"I'd say that would be a topic of discussion once we actually find them." Ren answered, letting the cloaked girl have a breather from the endless volley of questions that might, on a good day, be able to match Nora on caffeine.

"But why?" The questions never ended, and Ren vaguely understood how Ichigo felt when dealing with Nora sometimes.

Ruby sighed once more, seeing as she'd have to answer this because the members of the other team weren't present for the argument of the previous day "Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was."

Penny gasped before whispering "Is she a man?"

Aaaaaand that got a renewed amount of laughter from Nora, who although in a serious situation ended up laughing at every funny thing Penny seemed to say, before Ruby responded "No, no, Penny, she's n- I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off."

"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." Penny replied.

"Me too, talking is great! You get to understand your friends better and talk about fun things! Like sloths!" and there was a Nora input, which at least managed to lighten the mood a little bit.

* * *

Several hours had managed to pass into nightfall seamlessly, with the orange haired teen and the two Faunus arriving at the docks before taking a vantage point on one of the warehouse rooftops to stakeout the Schnee Dust delivery.

Sun did not exaggerate when he said 'Huge', Ichigo surmised.

Although said monkey Faunus had vanished with the promise of returning after a few minutes, leaving Ichigo alone with Blake, whilst said carrot-top tried to figure out how to approach the topic at hand.

"Blake I- are you okay?" Let it be stated that sometimes even the bluntest of people had trouble making conversation, although that may have been because he was trying to start a conversation with someone _almost_ as blunt as he was (he used 'almost' to protect his sense of pride in his own bluntness).

"Yeah, it's just- I'm sorry, okay?" That was not the response he expected, the response itself begging more questions.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" He questioned in confusion.

"This isn't something you should be involved in, this isn't about you or Sun or-." She tried to speak.

Her statement was cut off by Ichigo placing his hand on her shoulder before saying "I don't really care what it's about. Frankly I don't think I'd care if it was the White Fang or just some plain old street thugs, I'm here to help my friend, nothing more, nothing less. Don't go thinking you dragged me into this without thinking, I came of my own free will because I needed some time to clear my head and I wasn't about to let my friend go running off after some melodramatic crap with some guy you'd never even met before yesterday." He was honest (and blunt as ever) in trying to help his friend, seeing that she was taking too much on her shoulders without realising she had people with her.

Of course, the moment was successfully ruined (or made more humorous) by the statement of "Jeez, you make it sound like I'm some super dodgy creep or crap like that." Belonging to Sun, making Ichigo chuckle despite the serious tone.

"You did get to Vale by stowing away on a ship instead of arriving with the rest of the students from your academy." He bluntly replied.

"I could've come with them, but I wanted to see the sights in Vale and my team were busy that day so I left without 'em." Ichigo would've expected a response like that after hanging around the teen for a day. The guy was energetic and fun but seemed to pass off petty crime as nothing.

' _Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't been arrested yet'_

"So what'd I miss anyway?" Sun questioned, oblivious to Ichigo's inner thoughts.

"Not much, just a whole lot of nothing is all." Ichigo responded.

"They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." Blake chose to elaborate on her friend's statement.

Sun was nonplussed to the lack of development, holding out a handful of apples before saying "Cool. I stole you guys some food." To which Ichigo gladly took. Walking and sitting was _very_ draining, mentally if not physically.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake responded somewhat harshly, before turning her gaze to Ichigo "It'd probably help if you didn't take from him, you'd just be encouraging him to do it more."

Ichigo responded "Sorry Blake, I think you're the minority here. I think I'd be more concerned if he wasn't stealing food that grew on trees." To which he received a mock glare.

' _Well at least it's not the level of glare she was giving Weiss yesterday'_

It was then which he realised the response he'd expected didn't come, and that he remembered the events of the previous day, his eyes showing his sombre mood that what he had relied on was a Hollow of all things.

He didn't know how he should feel, hateful for it being a Hollow or angry that he hadn't been told. He didn't know how to deal with it and he couldn't bring himself to find an answer.

His zoned out moment was instantly broken the moment rushing air and the sound of turbines whipped the three teens, with Ichigo quickly grabbing a ledge for support.

' _Future note, think before hanging around near ledges'_

The bullhead landed, before deploying its platform, and out walked a person donned in black clothing, covered by a grey body-armour and a telltale Grimm mask.

If that wasn't clueing in of what group the person belonged to then the red symbol of a beast head with three slashes through it was.

"Oh no." He heard next to him. He knew Blake didn't want it to be the White Fang, but it was.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"No, it's your regular neighbourhood street thugs, y'know, because they wear Grimm masks and actually have the same symbol as the White Fang emblazoned on their backs." Let it be stated Ichigo had picked up some sense of sarcasm from The Voice, although after saying it his thoughts returned to the events of the previous day, with him absentmindedly rubbing the scar on his cheek.

Sun had seemingly gone business mode, brushing off the sarcasm as it still gave him an answer, before asking Blake "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." Blake responded dishearteningly. She'd been gripping to every tiny piece of hope that the group she had once believed in so much hadn't fallen so low.

"Sooooo, we got your answer. Now what the hell are we supposed to do?" Ichigo questioned seeing as it was never really stated what they planned on doing _after_ finding out if the White Fang was responsible.

Naturally he was ignored in favour of the yell of "Hey! What's the hold up?" that seemed to be yelled loud enough to be heard over the turbines, and heard halfway across the dock.

Said yell seemed to surprise Blake into alertness, her eyes widening at the unfamiliar voice.

Ichigo didn't hear what was said next, but the next object of concern was definitely shown as the orange haired man in the bowler hat exiting the bullhead that was most identifiably _not_ a Faunus.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially one like that." Blake stated, standing and drawing Gambol Shroud's blade. Large scale robberies from the Fang were one thing, but a group that was entirely against humanity wouldn't be working with one under any circumstance.

Ichigo got a sense of dread at what was going to happen next, and at this point in time he had learned since coming to Beacon to never doubt that feeling.

"Please don't do what I think you're gonna -." Blake jumped off the roof, charging towards the containers "Oh for fucks sake, why can't I just go back to the days where I'm usually the dumb one charging in without thinking!" He turned, seeing that Sun had also disappeared. "Oh you've got to be shitting kidding me!"

Seeing as the two other teens with him had decided to take on a few bullhead's worth of White Fang members, Ichigo thought for once (where was the Voice when you wanted to rub something in someone's face?) and chose to use his scroll for a grouped voice call with his team.

"Ichigo?" Came Ren's voice, with an irritated sounding Nora in the background shouting "Oh, he chooses now to call?! We're a bit busy trying to run to the docks because let's face it, if there's explosions then you're not too far away!"

"Ichigo where are you?!" Jaune questioned over the sound of bullheads flying over Ichigo (shocking the teen into urgency), surprised that after a day of silence and ignored calls that Ichigo had called them (subsequently alerting the members of Team RWBY with them).

"White Fang at the docks. Get here yesterday!" Ichigo pretty much commanded, ending the call and jumping down to join his friends.

Ichigo charged in right as Torchwick got drop kicked by Sun, with the Faunus standing up after his awesome entrance (in his opinion) before Ichigo stood next to him.

"I really don't think there is anything I can do to make my entrance seem anything less than anticlimactic after that." Ichigo stated, drawing his weapons.

Any pleasantries between the two teens was cut off by several White Fang members dropping and surrounding them, with Torchwick stating "You are not the brightest banana in the bunch are ya kid? And while the other one has awesome hair to rival mine, I'm pretty sure it'll be stained with blood soon." before the White Fang members charged.

' _Eh, four on one is one more than my last substantial fight, but these guys don't get the kind of training huntsmen do'_

A member wielding a sword charged, and Ichigo met the blade with equal ferocity, holding his sword in a reverse grip, before weakening his hold and slipping to the side, allowing the WF member to pass by before slamming the back of his blade into the member's back to knock him out.

He didn't expect grunt troops of the WF to have Aura unlocked (though he could be wrong), so he knew at least to be careful, whereas they didn't know, nor did they care, about his lack of Aura.

The next one brought up his rifle to open fire on Ichigo, forcing the teen to dodge lest he be made a modern day pincushion (that being a pincushion without pins and full of a surprising amount of holes).

Ichigo had to keep moving to avoid the bullets, and in his haste to avoid being shot he was grabbed from behind by another WF member while the last member charged him with a sword, ready for the kill. Ichigo reacted instinctively, pulling up Midnight and firing out a Dust round, launching the last member away into blissful unconsciousness while using the recoil to knock the air out of the member holding him, before bringing the butt of the gun down on his head.

That left one grunt, with Ichigo charging at the grunt who was in a shocked stupor after watching two teens take out eight of their number in the space of about a minute, before his shock was stopped by a sword hilt to the mask, leaving an unconscious WF member downed, missing half his mask (and probably a few teeth).

That left Ichigo to turn and head to Sun and Blake's aid as Blake clashed with Torchwick, Ichigo himself barely unable to keep track of the repeated blows while the Faunus used her semblance coupled with speed to deliver flurry upon flurry of blows, with Torchwick managing to keep up.

Although when Torchwick managed to gain the upper hand against Blake, knocking the Faunus away, Ichigo chose action over patience. Charging in alongside Sun, the two traded blows with Torchwick, Ichigo long since holstering Midnight in favour of more mobility with his blade.

Alone, Sun might've been locked in stalemate with Torchwick, but between Ichigo and Sun they managed to keep the robber on the ropes long enough for Ichigo to get in several unguarded slashes, whittling away at Roman's Aura, before Blake charged in with a surprise blow, launching the thief back.

Roman, while on the ropes because of three Huntsmen in training, at least had his wit and smarts at times like these, he acknowledged to himself as he stood up and shot at the cable holding a shipping container full of Dust above the teens, causing it to plummet and the teens to dive away, where Roman stood above a downed Sun before Ichigo pulled out Midnight and fired a Dust round to force him back and gain some distance.

"Hey!" And after… how long? The backup Ichigo had the forethought to call for seemed to arrive, with Ruby standing atop the warehouse they had spent the better third of their evening waiting on.

"Oh hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Torchwick taunted.

Ichigo couldn't see what happened, but he saw Ruby turn and Torchwick's eyes game a gleam that showed his opportunity. Torchwick fired Melodic Cudgel at Ruby while her back was turned, and it would've hit had a bronze shield not blocked its path, signalling the arrival of more backup, identifiably at least Pyrrha had shown up.

"Oh, come on! Really?" Torchwick would've attempted more taunting in the unfavourable scenario, had he not been forced to dodge the pair of sickle blades that slashed where he was before Torchwick was forced to lock weapons with yet another teen, this time one with black hair and a streak of pink. It really wasn't his day, he surmised, as a hammer launched him across the dock. He was running low on Aura and they most certainly weren't running out of capable fighters.

And naturally, the universe seemed against him whenever these teens were involved, and that pattern stuck true when Penny (surprisingly) joined the fight, using several mechanical swords (which upon further scrutiny by Ichigo, were confirmed to be held by wires emerging from the strange girl's backpack).

' _Okay, combat ready does NOT suitably describe this girl. Ready to fight a war? Maybe'_

That was Ichigo's general opinion as the teens on the rooftop, plus Jaune who had seemed behind due to lack of stamina, joined the fight, with Penny taking out groups of WF members with ease (although pretty much everyone except Jaune could manage to do that, even Ichigo could if he was forced to).

Though Ichigo could only truly acknowledge the extent of ability Penny had when she launched herself to the back of the battlefield, before her swords began to orbit a point, focussing energy before a goddamn _laser beam_ was released and cut through three bullheads like a hot knife through butter.

Okay, Roman Torchwick was definitely pissed right now.

Not only had they cost him one of his biggest heists yet, they had cost him enough reinforcements to guarantee that Cinder would be incredibly angry at him for it, and these days he considered keeping an angry Cinder from killing him as half of his job occupation.

"Well, it takes a big man to admit when he's wrong." He stated aloud, gaining the attention of the teens present.

"So you admit your stubborn pride would get you killed and are willingly asking for my help?" A voice called from above, leading to the sight of a man sitting on a crane with slicked back black hair and a fur trimmed leather jacket.

"You're really gonna make me admit this out loud, ain't ya?" Torchwick snarled.

"Oh yeah, I am." Ichigo didn't know who this guy was, but if the shit eating grin was anything to go by, this guy would piss him off.

"Fine." Torchwick forced out through grit teeth. "Fine." He said once more, calmer. "I admit that I may need backup because frankly these worthless animals are incapable of anything." Well that got glares from several of the teens, whether for racist comments against Faunus, or because he treated his allies so badly, but his statement complete, the desired effect was achieved.

"Fine, Torchwick, you get a get outta jail free card, and I get to have some fun." The man stated, before dropping to the ground from the crane, surprising the teens that the man had dropped without breaking a sweat.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too Ginjo, this'll be a lot easier to explain later if you'd helped from the start." Torchwick was ready to make his getaway, seeing that he had almost a dozen teens ready to lay a total smackdown on him. Torchwick may have been about the level of a regular huntsman, but Ginjo was stronger than that (although definitely not as strong as Cinder, though the man himself hated to admit that).

"You can hate me for not helping later, but I've got my own reasons for not getting involved, namely him." To which he grabbed the cross necklace from his neck and green light enveloped it, revealing a giant claymore, which he pointed at Ichigo.

"While we all love the bad guy chitchat, some of us have places to be and school in a couple of days, so if we could just get on to the ass-kicking that'd be great." Ichigo didn't know this guy, or understand any interest the man may have had in him, but listening to those guys argue got boring fast enough for the rest of their friends to arrive and regroup opposite the robbers (although Penny's absence was noted by Ichigo).

"Nice to see some things don't change, you've still got that attitude of yours, but that's all you've got, isn't it Kurosaki?" Ginjo retorted.

"Okay, you seem to enjoy this, so I'll bite. Just who the hell are you and how do you know who I am?" First psychotic head-voices turning out to be Hollows then another voice in his head threatening his life, strangers that knew him really wasn't shocking him all that much.

"Heh, so you really don't remember me after all I did for you?" He was playing mind tricks just to test the kid.

His response did serve to confuse Ichigo "I have no idea who you are or what you're talking about, remember what?"

Unfortunately, the man no longer seemed willing to talk, and in a flash of green light the man was before him swinging the claymore, forcing Ichigo into a rushed block before being launched into a container, drawing concern from his friends who tried to charge the stranger.

Ginjo disappeared in a flash of Bringer Light, forcing the teens to redirect their attacks lest they hit each other. Ginjo wouldn't underestimate them; they'd given Roman trouble and taken out the White Fang grunts with relative ease, not to mention they had notable faces among them, the 'Invincible Girl' from Mistral among them.

Ichigo got up, spitting a lob of blood out through grit teeth. That guy hit like a truck.

A flash of green above him, but Ichigo reacted, bringing his blade up to block, but being forced down.

"Is that really all you've got? I'm disappointed Ichigo. You're so pathetic compared to what you once were that I may as well just put you out of your misery for it now." Ginjo pulled out a wooden pentagon, engraved with a symbol familiar to Ichigo (it wasn't every day somebody pulled out a copy of your own emblem, was it?), before Ginjo placed it on his sword, before it fused with the blade leaving a skull with a cross over it on the hilt, and forced his blade down, trying to force Ichigo down to his knees to end it. What he didn't expect was for the bladed shotgun to tear across his shirt, a shot echoing out as the source of momentum for the blade, forcing him to dodge back.

"Pathetic compared to what? I don't know what you're talking about, and right now, I couldn't care less!" He yelled before charging Ginjo, blade flashing out for an overhead slash, parried by Ginjo before Ichigo used his momentum to turn and fire Midnight away from Ginjo, using the momentum to slam into his chest before spinning back around to bring his blade in for an up close slash.

Ginjo caught his wrist, holding the blade over his head with ease "Is that all you've got? You're half decent but frankly I think any one of your friends here would've done better. Maybe you didn't catch on but I was serious before when I said I'd kill you for being so pathetic."

Ichigo retorted "Hard to swing that sword around in close combat though." He had made it his objective at the start to allow Ginjo as little room as possible to prevent use of the claymore, but he hadn't prepared for one thing.

"While you might have thought this out, it's always wise to think of all of an enemy's strengths and weaknesses before engaging them in close combat, or at least to bring backup. You have done neither." Ginjo grinned as he tightened his grip on Ichigo's wrist with an audible crack before the teen fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry you didn't even remember anything before you died. It really makes you a pitiful excuse for a reincarnate." The blade flashed green and Ichigo felt the slash, _through_ his sword, from his right collarbone to his left hip, tearing through the body-armour and his coat, before he collapsed.

He registered the concerned cries of his friends as pain overtook his body, before the remains of his blade fell next to him.

' **Heh, looks like we get one more shot at this, eh, amateur?'**

That was all he heard before a feeling of weightlessness overtook him.

* * *

Ruby was the first to charge, being that fastest, followed shortly after by an enraged Ren, who Jaune noted had never looked so murderous before. Ruby brought Crescent Rose in an overhead strike, propelled by a sniper shot, down on the raised claymore of Ginjo, who at least looked like he was exerting a bit of energy to hold to blade back.

Words meant nothing after something like that, and Ginjo was too busy savouring the anger on the faces of the teens to notice Ren charge in from his side, slashing out with StormFlower. Ginjo realised he was getting too cocky, and leaped back in a burst of Bringer Light, only to be met by a hammer to the back before locking swords with the Mistrali champion.

Ginjo had to exert more strength to force Pyrrha back, before the champion moved back before bringing her sword into spear form to go for a stab, leading to shock from Ginjo upon realising that he was being attacked on so many fronts that he wouldn't be able to block them all, before Pyrrha's spear diverted to the side, missing Ginjo and shocking Pyrrha. Ginjo's moment of glory went interrupted by a shot gauntlet to the back from the blonde whose eyes, before lilac, now red, looked just as murderous as Ren did.

Ginjo knew he'd need more power to take on all these teens at once, whether he used his Semblance or not (a lifetime of fighting beforehand made it difficult to get used to having new tricks), because instead of being blinded in rage they were attacking more fiercely, more thoughtless of not physically injuring Ginjo.

With that thought, he activated the clad type Fullbring of his Cross of Scaffold, letting his power radiate in a blast that knocked the teens back.

"Hn. Looks like this will be a lot more interesting than he was." He stated, before his eyes flashed red and he raised his blade in two hands and uttered words unspoken for centuries, if not millennia.

"Getsuga… Tenshou"

* * *

It took him several moments to realise that the feeling of weightlessness was actually freefall, and that the earlier pain he felt course through his being was nought more than a dull ache now.

Previous pattern recognition coupled with instinctual reaction combined to force him to straighten himself before he landed, confirming to him that this was definitely the place where the two beings within him dwelled. Anywhere else and physics would've broken his legs (and probably everything else).

" _Truly, you never do seem to learn."_ The teen sighed out, once more before him on the side of the building he stood on.

"I'm told determination might be one of my best traits." He responded sarcastically, his mind running in overdrive already due to his fight with Ginjo.

" _Perhaps you seek to ignore my warning and still seek this power. Though maybe you just return here to seek a quicker death than at the hands of that man? It matters not."_ The fragment of Ywach didn't feel much for this Ichigo, a determined boy and nothing more. He never fought in wars, he put himself in the situations that would kill him willingly and such feeble feats would no longer earn him power.

To give him power would be to encourage him to continue fighting, and to continue fighting would be to kill him. To kill him would be to damn his charge with yet another incarnation, because such a powerful soul wouldn't be capable of fading to time's ravages.

"You say I'm gonna die, but I'd say that's up to me to decide, and I'm not ready to die yet. If that means fighting through you to get out of here then I guess that's what I'm gonna do." Determination once more shone through him. His friends were out there fighting the man that presumed to know something of him, and regardless of his faith in their capabilities alone he wanted to be there to protect them should they need him.

A noise and a flash of steel and a half broken katana clashed with an oversized trench knife _"Once more you speak as though your decision will decide anything. You are naïve and doomed to fail, yet you continue. But most importantly you acknowledge your greatest flaw without realising it."_

That drew confusion in Ichigo, the being continuing _"You acknowledge that they don't need you, yet you continue to fight. Why fight when your actions alone, even your presence, have no effect on the outcomes?"_

The teen forced him back, flashing forward with a punch, launching Ichigo back before blocking another strike from the trench knife.

Their swords clashed the same way for minutes that seemed to blur past like seconds, but also seemed to drag on like eternity, before the blades locked once more, the teen speaking again, over the overwhelming silence and clashes of steel _"Even your blade reflects your weakness. It broke within a single strike, it holds no resolve, only a meagre reflection of what it would once have been."_

"First him and now you." Ichigo spoke "You compare me to something and I don't really know or care what it is. You compare me to somebody else that obviously isn't here. So get your head out of the clouds and fight me!" He forced the being back for the first time in their clash, charging forward for a stab to end the being.

The blade struck true, piercing his opponent's skin.

The blade sunk no further, held by the network of glowing veins beneath the skin of the being, before he grabbed the remainder of Ichigo's blade and snapped it at the hilt, before forcing the boy to his knees.

" _Did you really think it would be that easy? I compare you to something else because that being is what you could be, something I am both prideful for but also dread. Whether you come to acknowledge that what I am doing is to protect you or not doesn't matter. You don't have a reason to continue, you even admitted you weren't needed, so why keep fighting?"_ The unidentifiable tone, almost condescending or arrogant at the power the being held over him, was replaced with a sombre mood of curiosity.

"A reason to continue?"

' _ **So tell me, fake, what your names means?'**_

"You wanna know why I want to keep fighting?"

' _ **Abandon your fear. Turn back and you will age. Hesitate and you will die.'**_

' _ **An insult wearing HIS name'**_

"I don't know who it is you all seem to talk about or what kind of relation I have to him, but I get the feeling you already know my answer. I protect because that's what my name means, because I want to and for no other reason. That's my choice to make, and nobody else's!" His eyes shone with defiance once more at the being in front of him, reminding him of a long forgotten time with a much similar teen.

If things were like they were then perhaps such a naïve answer would have convinced him that the boy needed the power.

" _Once more you come back to choice. This choice was never yours to begin with. You speak of being a protector when you are the one being protected. The Hollow gave you power when you were in dire scenarios and right now your friends are fighting a deadlocked battle while you bleed out on the ground. I'm sorry to say that it seems you aren't going to get a choice in this Ichigo."_ He at least saw enough of his previous wielder in the boy to acknowledge him by name, even if stating the name reminded him of his own failures.

"Then it's a good thing I've got somebody on my side that can make a few decisions for me." Ichigo stated, confusing the Quincy, before confusion was replaced with realisation and anger, and in a flash trench knife met Khyber knife.

' **What's tha matter, Old Man? Looks like somebody forgot to tie the restraints properly when you spent too much focus on the amateur'**

The blades parted and the Hollow rushed forward, delivering strikes in rapid succession, forcing the Quincy back.

"You didn't even realise I didn't pull myself here this time, and that he managed to divert your attention enough to break free." Ichigo stated.

" _Hn. So the naïve boy would work with a Hollow to defeat me, and then what?"_

' **Then we get to kick that Fullbringer's ass!'**

"You see, I've had to think about this a lot recently, but Hollow or not, he's a part of me, and he's saved my ass more times than I can count. Easier to trust a Hollow you can call a friend than something else that threatened and attempted to kill me several times within the past day or so." It was when Ichigo realised that the Hollow had dragged him here for another chance that he disregarded the fact it was a Hollow to deal with a common enemy.

Whatever the fuck that guy was, because nobody seemed to want to explain it to Ichigo.

On a wordless signal, the Quincy charged the Hollow, blades clashing in deadlock before Ichigo charged in to try and stab the Quincy with the shattered blade of his sword. The pattern repeated itself before an opening appeared and the Quincy flashed between them, kicking the Hollow away before going for a stab against Ichigo, with the teen only able to divert the blade into a stab in the shoulder.

" _You lack the endurance necessary to win this battle. Any more hits like that and you'll be finished, boy."_ The word came out in disdain that he once more had to make himself the boy's enemy to make him understand, but this fight wouldn't take three months.

It was only when he tried to remove the blade that he realised Ichigo held it in a vice-like grip, not releasing it, that the Quincy realised he was too late before taking a slash across the back from the Hollow, forcing the Quincy to use Blut Arterie to overpower Ichigo, bringing the trench knife around in a slash across the Hollow's chest.

The battle blurred on for what seemed like hours, each side gaining and losing ground in an eternal stalemate.

It was only when the Quincy had knocked back the Hollow that he saw an opportunity open that he would be forced to take.

He would protect Ichigo, even if that meant killing him before he could gain any powers. ' _The boy would reincarnate again'_ , the Quincy told himself, ' _and he'll be safe'_.

The Quincy charged, trench knife extended towards Ichigo's chest.

A static sound, and the Quincy swung his blade upwards, disarming the Hollow.

" _I said I would absorb you. Instead it looks like I will have to destroy you instead."_ He raised his blade. _"Goodbye, Zangetsu"_

A blade pierced flesh, and Ichigo decided his own fate.

The alabaster white Khyber knife protruded through the Quincy's back, as power flowed out of him and he gained an older appearance, cracked shades appearing over his eyes.

' **I told ya before that it wasn't your decision to make. But I didn't say it was mine.'** The Hollow said, picking himself from the ground.

Both spirits looked to the teen wielding the Hollow's version of Ichigo's original Shikai.

' **It was his, dumbass.'**

" _Indeed it was, it seems. Once more you decide this for yourself Ichigo, I can only pray you take the correct path. This will not be our final meeting."_ And with that the Old Man disappeared, wisps of blackness fading into both the Hollow and the flagpole that stood nearby.

' **Damn Ossan, he was too nostalgic for his own good.'**

"What do you mean?" Ichigo responded.

' **At tha start he mighta meant to kill ya, but the more ya fought the more he remembered, that his original purpose was to protect ya'** That response drew shock on Ichigo's face, but before a retort could emerge the Hollow continued.

' **He figured if ya never got any power you'd stop fighting, that you'd avoid it, but it just spurred ya on. He continued, believin' he'd win in the end, and you'd stop fighting. But I know you too well, you have an instinct to fight and kill, whether it's acknowledged or not. And so we fought for dominance, of whether you'd receive power, and it was a stalemate with no victor'**

"Then how did you give me power before?"

' **I broke the stalemate by dedicating power I'd used to stop him to instead slip it through your soul and project it outward, giving you power. I knew he'd notice quickly and that this'd be inevitable, so the way everythin' would turn out depended on you'**

"I don't get it! Why me?"

' **That's another question I just can't answer, kid. But instead of focussing on matters for the future I'd focus on what matters right now. Your friends are still fightin' out there. You gonna let them do it alone?'**

Honey brown orbs turned into cerulean maelstroms of power, filled with resolve "Hell no."

' **Then I guess you're gonna need a new sword'**

* * *

Ginjo felt pretty damn happy, if he were to say so himself.

Why?

He'd managed to end one of the biggest nuisances that could occur in his life, and get revenge on Kurosaki for ruining his revenge against Soul Society (and killing him, mostly for killing him). Although the kill was that more anticlimactic seeing as he wasn't even remembered.

He'd managed to one up Roman into admitting being wrong, and he was so going to hold that over the bowler hat wearing douchebag for as long as possible.

And fighting these teens was making for the best fight he'd had in a long time.

The fight had just about evened out once he had revealed his Semblance and Ichigo's old Fullbring (not that the teen in question remembered it or would need it), with him being able to copy the teen's Semblances as and when his blade came into contact with their Aura.

He was torn between being jealous of the Polarity belonging to the Mistrali champion or the angry blonde who kept getting stronger for having such powerful Semblances. Though so far he was leaning towards the blonde's Semblance. Combining a Getsuga with that at the start was one hell of a way to kick-start the battle.

By that point it had become an uphill battle, the teens were attacking in rage against him, but their goal was to get to the bleeding out teen behind him.

"Jeez, you brats are all alike. Kick one down and the rest start attacking like dogs. Guess that'd make me euthanasia, wouldn't it?" He grinned at his own joke, although he didn't intend on killing them. Blood was messy and he didn't want to ruin his jacket beyond repair.

"You keep fighting for what? The sake of some already long dead kid? The brat has no Aura, so there's no way he's even still breathing!" He wanted to break them, to see if he could punish Kurosaki's ghost. He wanted to see despair, and he wasn't unsatisfied by the sadness of the realisation among some of them, most notably the cloaked one that Roman always seemed annoyed about.

Though some faces weren't ready to turn to despair, with the cat Faunus glaring at him, full of hatred, with similar glares from the pink-eyed one. Not to mention the human firecracker, but her Semblance seemed to make her look angry at everything.

"Eh, whatever. This has gotten pretty boring so I guess I'll leave you to your corpse. Getsuga…" He brought his blade up for another attack, preparing to use the explosion as his exit. He had only opened the fight with a Getsuga to see if the teens were truly worth the effort, and was not disappointed when they managed to survive with injuries because of their Aura, though it allowed him to test what combining a Getsuga with a Semblance would do.

"Y'know, it's not nice to copy other people's techniques." Was the comment that came, accompanied by a flash of static, which Ginjo registered as Sonido.

Though he was less concerned about the Hollow technique and more concerned about the very not-dead carrot-top standing before him, still wielding the broken half sword. Though Ginjo was not denying the possibility of it being more than a sword when he registered the top half of a Shihakusho the teen was wearing with his jeans, the robe seemingly replacing the trench coat Ginjo had ruined.

"Meh, Roman calls himself a master thief, but I'd say 'borrowing' people's Semblances is more boast-worthy than a few warehouses of Dust." Ginjo continued, registering the shocked stares from the other teens at Ichigo's uninjured return.

Once more on an unspoken signal, Ginjo burst forward in Bringer Light, bringing his sword down on Ichigo, only for the teen to catch the blade by the handle in the hollowed out portion, holding it there.

"I told you before, stolen techniques aren't really as cool compared to the originals." Ichigo said, before forcing Ginjo away and kicking him in the chest to gain distance before holding the broken sword at his side, as if ready to unsheathe it, before breathing loudly.

It was then that Ginjo and Ichigo's friends noticed the real difference, as blue light circled around Ichigo, pure brightness.

' **Now call out my name and let's kick his shit in!'**

"ZANGETSU!" the light was released in a burst, blinding the teens present. When they opened their eyes the sight that greeted them was Ichigo, standing where he had before, unmoved by his actions. The two things they did notice however, was the scar through the docks, water already filling the gap.

The other difference was Ichigo's sword. Ichigo's blade resembled an oversized Khyber knife instead of the formal katana it once resembled. It had no tsuba and no proper hilt, with a cloth wrapping around the handle that left a small amount of bandage hanging at the end. The sword was almost as tall as Ichigo, and had a black blade with a silver edge.

"So you really did regain your Zanpakutou?" Ginjo questioned, revealed standing to the side of the scar.

Ichigo didn't speak, once more vanishing in a static sound, reappearing behind Ginjo, drawing the Fullbringer's shocked eyes to Ichigo before their swords met and Ginjo was pushed back.

' _He just regained his spirit energy! How is he able to overpower me?'_ Ginjo couldn't fathom the boy holding no memories but being able to overpower him a moment after releasing a Shikai, even when he saw the boy still held no recollection of him.

' **We're only gonna be able to hold a boosted power for a few minutes. Gotta make use of all that Reiatsu the Old Man left behind'** Zangetsu only had that way of outright saying that Ichigo's body had built up so much unreleased Reiatsu over the years that only the control belonging to the fragment of Ywach could control it all without allowing Ichigo any of it or having it destroy him (regardless of the amount both spirits expended in their endless conflict).

Ginjo landed, and once more they stood in standoff. Ichigo looked to the side and saw his friends ready to make a move, but instead he held his hand up. "Don't get involved. This is between him and me." If they hadn't just seen him reveal having Aura or cut through a dock in a blast they wouldn't believe him, but instead (reluctantly and willing to help at a moment's notice) they backed down to watch the battle unfold.

Ginjo's eyes narrowed in frustration ' _Did he already figure out the constraints on my Semblance? Or is he just that cocky?'_

Deciding to continue the fight before the fight before the teen could make any more observations, Ginjo taunted "Are you really that cocky to think you can beat me alone? After I managed to hold all of your friends off while you were having your little chit-chat? Do keep in mind that I've still got plenty of fight left in me, brat."

"Except you were already forced to use a stolen Fullbring, so I wouldn't say my friends didn't make you exert anything." The teen replied, being supplied the information by his Zanpakuto, although the specific details of what Fullbring was and Ginjo's specific abilities would be explained to him by the Zanpakuto later, with Ichigo trusting the limited information he was given during his fight.

Ginjo didn't respond to that, appearing behind Ichigo in a flash of Bringer Light, before bringing his blade down on the unguarded back of the teen.

Ichigo's left arm came up to grab the blade, his Aura preventing harm to his hand, before he spun around, slashing Zangetsu out at Ginjo, only for Ginjo to catch his blade. Both fighters heaved their blades out of the other's grip, before making distance.

' **Aw, no banter? Come on! I came here for taunting and popcorn while you've still got enough power to put this douche in his place!'** Zangetsu moaned, although he only saw the fight as being interesting while Ichigo had a chance. He was too weak to take control of Ichigo's body after the fight against the Old Man, so they had no outs if Ginjo used Bankai, assuming he was able.

Once more they flashed forward, the flash of green from Bringer Light and the distinctive sound of Sonido being the only noise on the battlefield aside from the clash of blades.

The fight had become somewhat rhythmic.

They would charge and clash.

One would gain an upper hand to land a strike and both would retreat before a counter could meet.

The fight would continue, with the onlookers watching in shocked awe as their friend – previously bleeding out and with an incredible likelihood of death – matched blows, even nearly overpowered the man that they had managed to draw a stalemate with.

Then the pattern broke, as Ichigo hesitated for a split second, and that was enough for Ginjo's blade to draw towards his neck.

A flash of white in an instant allowed Ichigo to duck before retreating, before a startled realisation came to the onlookers, who although ready to help were also exhausted from fighting the man in front of them, while both fighters drew back before raising their blades.

Blue light coated around Ichigo flashed before dying out. He was out of Aura.

The same could be said for Ginjo, the man having a green Aura appear before dying out.

"Hn. I seriously doubted you'd be able to match me Kurosaki, and unfortunately the fight is getting a bit too interesting and I'm not allowed to go all out, so I guess we have to end it here." Ginjo stated, purple light building itself on his raised blade.

Ichigo's friends acknowledged that as the first attack that the man had used after almost killing Ichigo, and undeniably the one that did the most damage.

Ichigo didn't respond, unmoving, ignoring the cries of warning from his friends.

' _Gotta time it just right'_

' **If you're a second too early or late, then we won't have enough Reiatsu to overpower his'** Zangetsu warned him, barely suppressing the glee at letting lose some of his own power for the first time in a long time.

"How disappointing. No words of denial to death, no words of fearlessness? At this point I don't even care if I sound like a clichéd villain, but I guess this is the end, Kurosaki." He raised his blade, before the light solidified.

"Getsuga…" The man started, the roaring spirit energy blocking him from Ichigo's next statement.

"You really ought to try for some originality instead of ripping off other people's techniques in some half-assed knock off."

' **Don't he know the originals are always better than the sequels?'**

"Tensho." The man finished lazily, disappointed he was under orders to keep himself somewhat anonymous (though their definitions of anonymous differed, so he allowed himself to use this power regardless of what he was told, he wasn't some bitch lapdog like the two kids Cinder was always dragging around), and that meant holding back certain levels of power. The boy had potential, and was undeniably the same Substitute Shinigami from his previous life, even holding the same Zanpakuto.

He couldn't think of a word to describe his feelings towards it, whether he was disappointed or angry that the teen didn't remember him, that he couldn't even see recollection when he destroyed the teen that ruined his revenge against those that betrayed him.

The wave of Reiatsu sailed towards Ichigo, who still stood unmoving with his blade raised in both hands, unheeding the cries of warning of his friends, who by then had realised that he had no plans of moving, and at the same time were too far away to save – or stop – him.

"You ready?" He said aloud.

' **Hell yeah. Watch and learn amateur!'**

He felt it, like a second pair of hands on the blade overlapping his own, to the point he could see the colours of the Hollow over his own. The feeling surged through him, like their two images had overlapped, and he opened his eyes to a world of black, the distinct colours of his friend's Aura nearby, and the wave of energy still sailing towards him.

He raised his blade, and let _everything he had_ loose.

"Getsuga… **TENSHO!** " Zangetsu's own voice overlapped his at the end of the name, his Zanpakuto pushing all the power he could from Ichigo's body that the teen himself wasn't forcing out.

All the members of Teams RWBY and JNIPR (minus the I) witnessed was the yell of the attack, before a blast of energy shook the ground, and there was Ichigo, holding his blade while most of his image was obscured by the beam of energy radiating off of him, almost taking the form of a giant mask with blazing red eyes.

"He didn't run out of Aura…" Pyrrha started.

"He was charging it all into… that." Ren continued, seeing where his teammate's thought was going.

And as quickly as it had appeared, the light disappeared, having swallowed the other attack (and a decent portion of dock), leaving Ichigo to fall to his knees, using Zangetsu as a support.

"Not bad for a first run, huh?"

' **Meh, Six outta Ten. You let more energy spill out than you put into the blade, and frankly I'd be surprised if all of Remnant didn't feel that shockwave'**

"Heh, you've gotta be exaggerating, I can't be that bad at control." He replied, falling to his back.

"You are however, that bad at keeping conversations to yourself in your head." Was Blake's statement from nearby, alerting him to his friend's presence.

"I can be crazy and you can be introverted, I thought that was the deal?" He replied as Ren and Jaune helped lift him, while he placed a hand on his blade to drag it.

' **It's purely because you're barely conscious that I'm not scolding your ass for dragging me like that'** Zangetsu grumbled within Ichigo's mindscape, looking up as the clouds that had plagued him for a day was replaced by sunlight, for now at least.

* * *

" _It's been so long since we've seen such sunlight, the skies always clouded with doubt and fear. More-so recently."_ The Old Man stated, standing atop his flagpole once more.

" **Maybe that was because you told him he had a Hollow inside him? Or threatened to kill him?"** Zangetsu replied.

" _I believed that if his power was kept from him that he would never remember, that if he could never reach us that he would never lift a blade again."_ He reasoned

" **Then you really have no clue who Ichigo is."** Zangetsu answered.

" _Indeed it seems so. Perhaps I believed you would not be against the plan after the events of his first incarnation."_

" **You believed wrong. If you're talking about him thinking I was a Hollow so he had to suppress my power, you're wrong, I blame you for that. If you think I'd agree out of wanting to protect him, you're wrong."**

" _I suppose you plan to elaborate on that answer, seeing as like me you are a part of him. More than that you are his Zanpakuto, you should want to protect him more than I ever could."_

" **And that's exactly why I'm giving him this power."**

" _So that he may die in battle once more?"_ The Old Man replied sarcastically as the ideals of the two spirits clashed.

" **So he can keep being Ichigo. You saw it too, the reason I gave him power. He's more like the King than I had ever thought possible after being a reincarnate without his memories thanks to a certain** _ **someone.**_ **The more I saw him like the King the more I wanted to help him. He's too stubborn to put down his blade when he can protect others, so I'll give him a blade, and make sure he can destroy whatever the world throws at him."** Ignoring the jab about memories, the Quincy replied.

" _Perhaps you are correct, Zangetsu. In the end we can only hope."_ Silence fell among them once more, the Hollow lying on the grass and the Old Man standing atop his flagpole.

* * *

The teens present sat atop boxes while police investigated the (mostly intact) docks, exhausted. If the day of searching hadn't beaten the crap out of them then the constant fighting had.

After checking for injuries the teens approached the easiest topic.

"So who was that guy?" Yang asked to no-one in particular.

A ring of negatives looped throughout the group, before Ichigo altered the question. "He talked like he knew me, like we'd met or known each other for a long time, and I've never seen him before today."

Ichigo speaking led to a different topic, seeing as the identity of Kugo Ginjo didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"What… was that before, what happened after he almost killed you?" Blake asked, reflecting worry and fear that all the teens present had felt when the one among them without Aura had been put in a near death situation.

' **I wonder how that'll go? Oh by the way I survived because I fought a guy in my head alongside my Zanpakuto which is actually a sword manifested from my soul a lot like a Semblance that makes no sense in any book I've ever read and will get me sent to a loony-bin faster than running into a bank, shooting three people and demanding a Snickers?'**

' _So we're lying?'_

' **Gimme the Jammy Dodgers and no-one gets hurt!'** That most likely meant yes.

"I really have no idea. After I went down I just… felt something and when I got up my Aura was unlocked." He lied.

"That still doesn't really explain the oversized butter knife, dude." Sun responded, joking at the weapon.

Before said weapon was raised in his face, courtesy of Zangetsu having a bit of influence, before Sun corrected in his panic "Khyber knife! It's a Khyber knife that totally is too awesome to be used as a kitchen utensil!" That got the blade lowered from his face, with Ichigo simply stating to Zangetsu _'Was that really necessary?'_

' **How would you like it if I called you an oversized carrot?'**

' _Touché'_

"Well I, for one, have never heard of a weapon changing entire forms when someone unlocks their Aura. It's not even the kind of weapon that can change modes like some of the other weapons here." Weiss stated, baffled at the earlier display.

"Who cares? It's an awesome sword that shoots awesome laser beams!" Nora cheered with glee.

' **Nice to see somebody appreciates an awesome weapon when they see one'**

"Technically they're high pressure energy beams." Ichigo corrected, seeing as Zangetsu had corrected him in the same way when first telling him of the technique (in the two minute infodump he got out of the spirit before awakening to fight Ginjo).

"So it's not Dust?" Ruby questioned, momentarily joining the conversation instead of staring in awe at the weapon.

"It would make sense for it to not be Dust, seeing as the weapon had just transformed and has no visible way to store Dust. Not to mention the fact that his Aura deactivated as he was charging the attack, not to mention the same thing happened for the man he was fighting." Ren said, interested by the uniqueness of the weapon seeing as he tended to rely on Aura more than others, using it in close combat.

"I wasn't really sure, it was just instinct." Ichigo justified. Technically it was instinct, although said instincts were being controlled by Zangetsu.

"Maybe it has something to do with your Semblance?" Both Blake and Weiss spoke at the same time, before a silence befell the group, seeing as this was the closest the two had to speaking since they had gathered together, and this would be the point to address the issues that had led to the teens leaving Beacon in the first place.

Or in Nora terminology, Ichigo interrogation time was over, now it was Blake's turn.

"Weiss I-." Blake began to speak before what she wanted to say and admit to left her. These were her friends and teammates, people she had no doubt she could trust, and she wanted to tell them everything while she had the courage to.

"Just stop." The heiress interrupted, uncaring of what her teammate would say, although that made Blake fear the worst. Though Weiss predicted what would happen before Blake moved.

"And before you even get the idea that I'm going to turn you in or you try to run, we've been sitting here with cops nearby for how long now? I'm pretty sure it's clear I'm not getting police involved."

Still on a streak and not allowing the Faunus to speak, Weiss continued "I've been given all day to think about what's happened, and about what my own thoughts on it were, as well as others. And after some talking with certain people I've come to realise that I don't care." Her previous contemplations gone, Weiss' usual smooth confidence had returned, signalling the loss of the turmoil that had plagued her.

"You don't care?" Blake questioned.

"I was told that I could judge you in two ways, for who you are, or for what you are. And I decided to judge you for what you are." That brought Blake's fear back, with her seeing the two sides as Blake as a person or judging Blake for being a Faunus and ex- WF member.

"And what you are… is my teammate. Simple as that." That brought a smile to Blake's face, her fear somewhat cleared, leaving a happy mood, voiced by Ruby.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

"Pancakes!" Cried Nora in response.

Ichigo nudged Sun "Hey, I think it's a record that she hasn't insulted you yet. But seriously, dropping a banana on him? You have got to teach me how to turn dumb shit into awesome entrances." That got a laugh out of Sun, and the other teens that had turned to listen.

"Sorry dude, trade secret." Sun grinned.

"Maybe you have too high an IQ level for that kind of stupid shit, don't feel bad Ichigo." Yang joked, getting a "Hey!" out of Sun and a laugh from the other teens.

All was good indeed.

* * *

"Ginjo, report." Cinder's voice was ever as irritating in person as on the Scroll, Ginjo surmised.

"I don't get why you need a report from me when you shoulda gotten one from Torchwick." He responded, more in his own thoughts than the orders Cinder had given him.

"Well, a story is always better when you can see it from different points of view." She continued, forcing Ginjo to admit he wouldn't get out of the conversation without giving a report.

"Torchwick fucked his robbery, three teens showed up, with one of them clearly being an Ex-Member of the Fang. Three then seemed to multiply and Roman couldn't keep up with eleven teens at once, even if one did disappear during the fight. So I was forced to step in." He reported.

"There is more than that. I practically felt you using your power from here." She replied.

"There's the interesting part." He grinned "One of those kids is a reincarnate just like me. What you felt was his power, not mine."

"Is that so? Interesting indeed." The call dropped.

"Bitch won't even keep a conversation going once she has what she wants. No wonder she's single." Ginjo was glad he didn't have to sit around with the other psychotic morons Cinder surrounded herself with. Ginjo would've probably ended up killing them all. Well that and he wouldn't be able to sit around and drink while making comments about Cinder without getting burned alive.

* * *

 **So, before I'm roasted alive for it, explanation on why Ichigo was able to pretty much beat Ginjo upon first encounter because I'm not outright saying it in the story:**

 **Ichigo has had his Aura unlocked since Masaki first tried to unlock it while he was a kid, he just couldn't manifest any of it because the Old Man was holding all of it back.**

 **That led to the idea of the Bleach episode 14 (Ichigo and Uryu vs the Menos) ,where Ichigo's spirit energy is bottled up, leading to it all being released at once, only on the scale where Ichigo's spirit energy was only being used in the conflict between the two spirits with remaining energy staying inside Ichigo, which was the energy released against Ginjo.**

 **Essentially my explanation is Ichigo was stronger in the fight against Ginjo because all of that remaining energy was being released at once.**

 **Explanation Part 2, Ginjo:**

 **So yes, I've gone ahead and added another Bleach character, and I chose Ginjo. I chose Ginjo because he is one of the many victims of Bleach not having the time to fully develop characters, leaving Ginjo as a relatively blank slate of a character I can add onto in the story.**

 **As for his Semblance, if it wasn't obvious, it requires use of his Fullbring and allows him to 'borrow' the Semblance of the last person whose Aura he came into contact with. Other expansions on this explanation may be added in the future.**

 **Explanations, Part 3: Ichigo VS Quincy Zangetsu:**

 **To avoid confusion, the Quincy portion of his power was in the same form as the FGT training because he had taken that form while absorbing Zangetsu's power.**

 **The Quincy portion of Ichigo's power was trying to keep Ichigo's power from him to keep him from suffering like his last incarnation, and from ever remembering his previous life to the point that the Old Man threatened Ichigo's life to keep Ichigo from remembering, justifying it to himself.**

 **Guest:**

I'm hyped as fuck for the next chapter!

 **Well here's hoping I didn't disappoint :)**

 **Kestes:  
** Ah, I was referring to what I believe was the first Bleach Epi/Chappy when he beats up those twats kicking around that dead girl's vase haha

Damn. Thing are certainly heating up eh? Great chappy as usual :)

 **Ah, Okay that makes more sense. Things most certainly did heat up and I hope I haven't disappointed.**

 **Hola:**

White fang apologism really pisses me off. These aren't nice normal people forced into things. These are people that are willing to unleash death machines onto civilians.

 **Except the part where these were normal people who wanted equality and were convinced by more radical members that violence was the only way to achieve equality.**

 **Guest:**

Oh man. I cannot wait for the next chapter.

That being said some anime tropes are just great. If Ichigo ever goes masked again him losing control would be great. I really like your writing.

 **Hope I haven't disappointed, not sure about him being masked though it is possible :)**

 **Guest:**

Old man zangetsu it will rain if ichigo can't protect his friends.

 **Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter I guess XD**

 **Well here we are at the end of Volume 1, a point which I never dreamed of achieving upon starting this story, and you guys have been bloody brilliant. Thank you all so much for supporting this story up until now, I cannot thank all of you enough.**

 **That being said I'm going to take a small break from publishing to give my poor brain a break XD Do not fret, this isn't being abandoned for another story because I still plan on writing more while it's on break but it gives me a reprieve to write more chapters and not pressure myself with deadlines.**

 **Thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I'll see ya next time :P**

 **PS. As a cliffnote, hat off to MCBOSSWAFFLES for sitting around while we proofread this at three in the morning XD**

 **Waffles: It's 2:58**

 **Me: Fuck off I'm tired.**


	17. Best Day Ever

***Finishes first volume with promise of hiatus to give brain a break***

 ***Has an all-nighter in the same night***

 ***Brain chooses to start writing next volume at six in the morning***

 **I hate you brain, but here we are XD**

 **(After note: I got as far as finishing the AN before curling up on a friend's dining room floor and sleeping for two hours.)**

 **So here we are with Volume 2, which I'm probably going to publish early as a Christmas/New year's gift. You guys have been so great with supporting this story and I'm as thankful as ever for it, so I hope you all had happy holidays :)**

 **This... this is the part where I'm completely honest with you guys. I'm at a complete lack of confidence in my writing at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I've got the next two chapters after this written and proofread, but quality is my biggest insecurity towards this at the moment. I'm not sure if I've written well or done things people won't like and I don't know if I deserve all the positive support this has been getting. This could just be a normal thing for writers but I don't really know seeing as it's my first story. Either way, in the coming chapters I highly encourage leaving a review and telling me what you think. I'm pretty sure I could use some brutal honesty about my writing right about now.**

 **Disclaimer!**

 **I don't own the wonderful masterpieces I portray in my writing.**

 **One last warning: Don't expect anything good from the food fight. It was a brilliantly choreographed fight by Rooster Teeth and there was no way I could figure out how to incorporate Ichigo well without writing it badly or changing the fight into something infinitely worse.**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Episode 1: Best Day Ever**

* * *

Things had returned to relative normality following the events at the docks, life continuing without fault with the teens returning to normal life.

That meant school, the rest of a school semester.

Zangetsu contemplated if it would've been less painful to let Ginjo or the Old Man kill Ichigo at the docks.

But alas, somehow the teens had survived, which led to a two week break. That ended today.

' _Pain. Pain. All I know is suffering and pain'_

' **I'd say school isn't that bad but your issues usually aren't even caused by the work or the fact you're a dumbass'**

' _No, it's not because I'm a dumbass. It's because of the psychotic Hollow in my head that decides to train me at the most inopportune times!'_

Well at least one thing had returned to normal, and that had been Ichigo's conversations with The Voice – Zangetsu, even. It took a while to remember he had a name and a face to associate him with now. Regardless of whether the face was a whitewashed version of Ichigo's own.

' **Hmph. You're just jealous because I got all the good colours.'**

' _You are literally only one colour!'_

' **Well my eyes ain't'**

' _Well I don't care about your eyes! How did you get all the good colours if you only got one colour?'_

' **White is literally all colours at once. That means I got all the awesome ones where you got the sucky ones'**

' _But if you got all the colours, then don't you also have the so called 'sucky ones' that I got stuck with?'_

If the grunt of annoyance within his mind was anything to go off of, then he'd won that argument.

Ichigo: 1 – Zangetsu: -

Ichigo cut off that train of thought when he remembered the amount of times the Hollow had used him as a punching bag to train him. Better to preserve his dignity and ignore scoring.

"Ichigo, you're zoning out again." Ren's voice called him back to the real world, more accurately the Beacon cafeteria. A large hall with cold grey-brown walls with windows at regular intervals, the building itself holding support pillars throughout, though they could just be decoration. Regular wooden benches lined the room from both ends, meeting in the middle, around the area where he and his friends sat.

If nothing else, experiences in the previous semester had strengthened bonds between the two teams, leading to them hanging out more often. Much to the detriment of everybody involved when Yang and Nora started hanging out more often.

' _Truly a match made in hell'_

' **No thanks. Kenny and Yachiru tops that dynamic disaster any day'** Zangetsu inputted, his wielder used to statements that wouldn't be explained.

Such as Kugo Ginjo, who Zangetsu had avoided explaining, instead explaining his abilities.

Zangetsu had told him that the man was a Fullbringer, somebody who wielded Hollow powers, though not to the extent of Ichigo.

Or in Zangetsu's words:

' **He's a crappy cheap knock-off of someone with powers like yours'**

The interesting part was the man's Semblance, which was confirmed after the docks, as copying Semblances.

Ginjo himself had said Ichigo should know his enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and the limitations of the man's Semblance definitely counted among that.

Discussions with Yang and Pyrrha, whose Semblances the man had made most use of, showed that the man only seemed to use the Semblance of the person he had previously come into contact, and that he had been unable to copy from people who didn't have their own Semblances discovered, meaning Jaune and Ichigo.

Not to mention the ongoing theory of the man's power holding a time limit, seeing as he used no copied Semblance against Ichigo.

Though mention of the man's powers brought Ichigo to another point that Zangetsu had told him, that Ginjo had copied a technique from Ichigo himself because the Fullbringer held a portion of Ichigo's own power, though the Zanpakuto divulged no more than that.

His thoughts were cut off by the grape that hit him in the head, the one who threw it obviously being the victoriously grinning Yang across the bench, who high-fived Nora for the success.

"I told you that would get him to pay attention." The blonde gloated to Ren, who had seen his friend barely paying attention for the last several minutes.

"Truly you are the master of fixing day-dreamers! You must teach me your secrets!" Nora cheered with glee, joking around to the amusement of her friends.

"Well it's simple really." Yang said, eyeing her partner who also seemed to be ignoring the rest of the world. _'It really begs the question of if Blake has that tendency because of Ichigo or if it's the other way around'_ The blonde thought to herself, before choosing to show her superiority at bringing day-dreamers back to the real world.

Though whatever dramatic display Nora was expecting to be taught was killed with the anti-climax that was Yang sliding along the bench, bumping into Blake to gain the Faunus' attention before asking "Watcha doin'?"

' **Truly, she is the master of distraction'** Zangetsu remarked sarcastically. He wasn't bitter because the blonde made more puns than he did. Nope. Totally not.

"Nothing. Just going over notes from last semester." Blake responded, quickly closing her book. The teen herself seemed more distracted after the events of the docks, though most attempts from Ichigo to get her to talk about it were diverted or outright ignored, much to the confusion of the resident Zanpakuto-wielder.

' **It confuses ya because you're a dumbass, ya dumbass'**

Though Yang seemed to accept the answer, sliding back to her seat to catch a grape thrown by Nora, before the blonde responded "Lame!" to her partner.

"Well Ichigo, how have the notes from last semester been going?" Ren asked, aiming to keep the conversation going before his friend could zone out again.

"Pretty well I guess, besides the amount of work we make up for because of Port's lecture times and having to read through the books because it's easier to understand than listening to Oobleck." Ichigo responded, mentally deadpanning _'And because I'm forced to play catch up for a few classes that I missed all of because of the sadistic sword in my head'_

' **That's not true. You don't play catch up on combat class.'** Zangetsu justified.

' _No, instead I get you sadistically laughing while I fight which is INCREDIBLY off-putting'_

Topics of discussion were dropped when Ruby appeared, signalled by the stupidly larger binder (which clearly had 'Vytal Festival Activites, Property of Weiss Schnee' on the front, crossed out in red marker) with the title, 'BEST DAY EVER ACTIVITIES!' emboldened on the front in bright red capitals.

"Ahem." The silver-eyed girl began "Sisters" She gestured towards her own team "Friends" She gestured towards Team JNIPR "Weiss." She finished lamely, getting a "Hey!" from the Ice Queen herself.

Ruby's stride was undamaged, continuing without fault "Four score and seven minutes ago I had a dream."

' **Welcome to the crazy parade. Population: you'**

"This ought to be good." Yang said across the table before catching a tomato, her comments and Zangetsu's pretty much covering how Ichigo though the next few minutes would play out.

"A dream that one day, the nine of us would come together, as teams, and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!" Yep. Ichigo was scared now.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked.

' _Okay, that makes it slightly better'_

Ruby responded "I am not a crook."

' **She is however, a thief, a robber, and a – crap. Need a thesaurus to get more ways to accuse her of stealing'**

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, contributing to the conversation instead of looking back through her 'notes'.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" Ruby exclaimed in response.

' _Oh shit'_

' **She'd better fucking not say it'**

Yang opened her mouth to speak.

' _Oh merciful Oum please NO!'_

' **If she fucking says it I will rip her head off'**

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" She punned, oblivious to the inner conflict across the table.

One of Ichigo's irises turned a sickly yellow, and Ichigo chose the next logical course of action before Zangetsu chose it for him.

He grabbed the apple from Nora's hands with enough force to dent imprints into it, and lobbed it at Yang with a shout of "No! Just no!"

Looking back, Ichigo was so glad it missed Yang and broke a window instead, the carrot top sitting down with laboured breath.

Yang responded appropriately to having something new to do, picking up a fruit near her and lobbing it across the cafeteria, a cry of "Hey!" from the other side of the room clear that the projectile had hit something.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great!" Ruby continued cheerfully, ignoring the fruit turned deadly projectile that had broken a window.

"But classes start back up tomorrow. Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today." She finished, reaching the point of her speech.

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss said, pretty much voicing the opinions of other teens present (though mostly those who were barely able to deal with their regular daily doses of crazy. Meaning all of the male teens present plus Blake.)

"I don't know. I think I might sit this one out." Blake said, more concerned about the more climactic events of their previous semester than having fun.

"But you can't do that!" Ruby whined, before clarifying "If you sit out then that gives Ichigo an excuse to sit out, and that means Ren will probably sit out and then Jaune will join them and we'll have lost half of the people I planned this day for!" Ichigo tended to sit out of things if given the opportunity, though the teen never clarified why, if asked he could be heard grumbling about a 'sadistic bastard' or 'albino prick'.

"She has put way more thought into this than I gave her credit for." Weiss said in surprise at the somewhat in-depth analysis from her leader. She planned on continuing her statement, only to stand up and be hit by a pie to the face.

The pie dropped from her face and she looked towards the other team with a glare that exuded rage, while Nora embarrassedly tried to point at Ren while said teen facepalmed, with Jaune and Pyrrha looking shocked at the action.

Though while Nora may have thrown the pie, it was the uncontained laughter from Ichigo that pushed the heiress over the edge, while the orange haired teen was fuelled by his own laughter and that of his Zanpakutou, leading to him falling out of his seat laughing.

All Ichigo could acknowledge was what felt like an explosion before being blasted across the room.

* * *

It was official, Ichigo surmised, this was lunch-hall Armageddon.

After the initial explosion (what the hell had caused that?!) Ichigo was faced with a wrecked cafeteria, with his team and Team RWBY each taking a side, leaving him in the middle.

' _I have a bad feeling about this'_

' **That's what you get for standing in the middle of a battlefield like a sitting duck'**

' _Battlefield?'_ The teen croaked out.

' **Welcome to Food War Remnant, folks! Today we got a dumbass whose about to get stuck in the middle of a fight between his friends, and I bet he's really regretting laughing at the Ice Queen or throwing fruit at the Firecracker now everybody!'**

' _I don't know how this happened but I choose to blame Nora'_

' **Don't look at it as you getting pelted with food, look at it as you getting to practice your abysmal Shunpo'** Zangetsu responded, happy at a half-decent opportunity to have the teen practice Shunpo, frankly he was lucky none of the other teens had recognised Sonido, but veteran Huntsmen wouldn't mistake the sound for anything else, so Ichigo had to learn Shunpo.

Not to mention Ichigo himself had no control over his Sonido at the docks, because Zangetsu was mostly controlling that himself.

He reacted instinctively once his friends charged, with his team stepping down from the pile of tables that had amassed at one end of the hall, when his team launched a barrage of watermelons; Ichigo reacted, trying to force the Aura to allow him to Shunpo out of the way.

' **Minus Ten Points!'** That was the indication of the watermelon that hit him, the teen looking towards his team, knowing full well that he had gotten stuck as a third party in this free-for-all.

' **Stop forcing the power, you control it, idiot'**

' _Is there advice you give that doesn't involve insulting me?'_

' **Minus Twenty Points!'** Indication of a Turkey that hit him in the head, forcing him to instinctively duck before the next one sailed over his head and into Jaune's gut.

' **Humourous dumbass. Plus Fifteen Points!'**

Instincts and memories of his previous attempts kicked in as he was charged by Blake from one side and Pyrrha from the other, with him disappearing in a flashing sound, identifiable as not being Sonido by the lack of static or booming sound.

' **Half successful Shunpo. Five Points!'**

He appeared a few meters away, although small victories such as use of Shunpo were prevented from celebration as Ren charged him, with Ichigo grabbing a discarded half baguette on the floor to block the strike that came as Ren attacked him with a leek.

A leek.

Ren spun around, foot shooting out in an attempt to kick Ichigo in the gut, only for him to once more flash back, before hitting something and landing on his back.

"Yield?" A voice questioned, and Ichigo saw Jaune standing over him with another half baguette outstretched as a weapon.

All Ichigo could do was smile, before stating "Nope" drawing widened eyes from Jaune before he swept his leader's legs from under him and slugged his leader mid-air a few feet away, most likely down for the count.

' **Downed the goofball. Seven points!'**

'… _Really?'_

' **If it counts I saw beating you as only getting three'**

' _Haha, screw you too'_

Ichigo wasn't sure what happened next, only standing once more to see a blur of red and a storm of food and debris they had caused around the hall.

' _Please work!'_ He mentally yelled, forcing himself to move, feeling the wind rushing about him before he crashed into something. Hard.

"Umm, Ichigo? You okay?" It was muffled, but that sounded distinctively like Sun, and before he knew it he was being removed from the wall he seemed to have crashed into, going so far as leaving an indent of his shape in the wall.

' **And this is why we look before we flash step, amateur'**

' _Noted'_

"Aside from food Armageddon I'd say things are pretty good." Ichigo responded to Sun, idly noting the tanned (probably) blue haired teen with Sun wearing a white dress shirt and black tie under a red jacket adorned with a wide, upturned, black collar, also sporting a pair of grey jeans with black padding strapped to the sides, as well as black shoes fastened with straps instead of laces.

Though said teen didn't look as cheerful as his friend, seeing as the blue haired one was covered from head to toe in what Ichigo assumed to be grape juice while Sun himself remained unaffected.

"Is he…?" Ichigo half questioned to Sun, before the teen in question responded.

"Great. I'm just great."

' **His scowl disagrees with his statement'**

Of course, before the 'Apocalunch' (as Zangetsu had dubbed it) could continue, Professor Goodwitch ( **'Bitchwitch'** Zangetsu would grumble in his mind) barged in looking murderous before waving her riding crop, her Semblance activating before the entire cafeteria seemed to rearrange itself to its former setting, before the blonde teacher ground out "Children please, Do not play with your food."

The statement would've held more meaning or been taken more seriously had it not been followed by Yang falling through the ceiling, destroying a table before standing up as if nothing had happened, grinning and giving the teacher a thumbs up, which led to laughter among all the teens present.

Glynda hadn't noticed when Ozpin had entered, but before she could turn to reprimand the teens for making such a mess Ozpin simply stated "Let it go."

Glynda responded "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be, but right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part?" He responded to his colleague's thoughts, before turning to leave the room.

More to himself than anyone else he stated "It isn't a role they'll have forever." Memories of past failures came to him upon that thought alone, and he chose to leave to endure such melancholy alone. He knew that actions had been put into place that meant these students would have great journeys ahead of them, and he could only hope they would be prepared.

 _His_ power was a warning of something to come, if nothing else.

* * *

"Until then, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention. I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am." Blake finished her statement to Ozpin, drained beyond comprehension at the actions of that day.

' _My secret, the docks, Weiss… Ichigo. All of it.'_ The events of the previous twenty four hours or so had truly tested her, and shown that she could trust her team. That could've been the most terrifying part had Kugo Ginjo not been present.

He had nearly killed Ichigo, and the fact alone that one of her friends came so close to death terrified Blake.

It wasn't that he had done it, more that he had done it so fast. If this man was working with the White Fang like Torchwick was, then that meant there were more enemies like that out there that could destroy what she cared for so easily, one name prevalent among them. _'Adam'._

"And what are you?" Ozpin pressed. This girl was one of the teens he could tell would play a part in events to come, years of what he had done had taught him that. Team RWBY and JNIPR were not being treated unlike Team STRQ was back in their day, though what that meant could go either way.

Raven leaving was a reminder that his allies weren't forever.

"I… don't understand what you're asking." Blake responded, too lost in her own thoughts to understand the meaning of the question, assuming it to relate to her former membership in the White Fang, which put her on edge.

"How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?" Ozpin pressed, calculating gaze never leaving the teen before him, though not that there was much to look at in the cold grey room that they sat in, the only object inside a table, and the only exit the door behind him. Years had taught him to even treat allies as you would treat enemies.

"I didn't." Blake pressed, tired eyes once more returned to Ozpin "I just happened to be at the right place, at the right time."

Ozpin smiled fondly in recollection of right places and right times "You wouldn't have been the first."

"But what happened tonight was not an isolated incident." Though Blake may not have known it, he was referring to the presence of another academy student's presence and that local police were inevitably involved due to the scale of the fighting that had occurred.

He needed spotlights away from his students and academy to move freely, not to mention whether he knew the teens involving themselves in such events in the future inevitable or not he would prefer to discourage it.

The presence of somebody such as Kugo Ginjo meant that ancient powers could be awakening for the first time in centuries, and he wanted insurance that no death came to those who wielded ancient powers on their own side.

"I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman. And it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it." He added in attempt to convince any necessary answers out of the teen. What he was doing was for their protection along with the defences he had spent so long to build to try and attain peace.

"Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?" His eyes reflected the concern in his words, for even over the years he was still a person and he was also a teacher, which meant he concerned over his students more than they realised.

"I'm sure." Blake responded, rebuilding a mask over her fears. Ozpin was asking about the docks, and his questions pertained nothing to Ginjo or anything to do with Ichigo or her past in the White Fang, so she chose not to give answers.

"Very well, thank you for your time Ms. Belladonna. If you ever need to talk to me, don't hesitate to ask." She chose to say nothing of her past, and Ozpin respected that, Blake being an ex-White Fang member regardless. That did nothing for his concern though, seeing as he knew what the teens had witnessed, security cameras not having been cut, making Ozpin assume the would-be robbers planned to erase it before leaving.

Further thoughts were not permitted as Blake left, making Ozpin remember he wasn't done for the evening, stating to the leaving teen "Please send Ichigo in on your way out." To which the teen nodded before leaving down the corridor to the teen seated at the other end.

Ichigo stood up as Blake approached; the Khyber knife the teen had gained left on the seat next to him. Ozpin chose to avoid listening in, the conversation was between the teens, and he respected their privacy. He watched as the fear in Blake's eyes gained both his attention and Ichigo's, and as if in practiced fashion the orange haired teen placed his hand on the Faunus' shoulder before speaking to her.

It seemed that the conversation ended after that, as Ichigo hefted the blade onto a shoulder before walking down the corridor, towards the turned back of Ozpin in the chair (he chose to turn to avoid being seen as snooping), with Blake watching his retreating form before leaving the building.

Wordlessly, Ichigo walked around Ozpin before seating himself, leaning the weapon against the table.

For almost a minute, neither men spoke, before Ozpin took the initiative to speak "Masaki told me that you were a likely candidate to be a leader. She told me that you always protected those you cared about regardless of your personality and that you didn't like it mentioned that your name also meant strawberry." He finished, watching a vein pop in the teen's forehead.

"That doesn't seem relevant to the topic!" The teen burst out, before breathing and seating himself.

Ozpin continued as if the outburst had meant nothing "What she didn't speak of was your seeming ability to survive what would by all rights have been a fatal blow, gain an Aura without help and transform a weapon that was able to do _that_ to a dock." Ozpin knew what the power meant, but he needed to find out how much Ichigo himself knew about what he had gained.

The teen in question had seemingly stopped, looking at Ozpin but not paying attention, before he simply put a hand on the table and sighed out "I don't have a goddamn clue about anything that happened before so why don't you enlighten me a little bit?"

So he had turned the table in a one hundred and eighty degree angle on Ozpin, but the table wouldn't stay on Ichigo's side, though Ozpin chose to indulge him "I know very little about what happened with you, especially seeing as Masaki had personally asked me to help solve your lack of Aura, though I do know of the man you fought." He brought up a picture from the dock, although blurred, that showed the man in question.

"Kugo Ginjo is a skilled fighter that seemingly appeared out of nowhere a few years ago, though he holds no records anywhere. The man has shown an incredible deadliness in combat and a Semblance that allows him to temporarily copy the Semblance of the last person his blade touches, though further evidence shows a time limit on his ability to hold a single Semblance." He told the teen, watching his eyes once more unfocus on Ozpin and seemingly on nothing.

"How do you know what his Semblance does and its limitations?" Ichigo asked, and Ozpin saw the determination behind those eyes. Ichigo was trying to gain information to gain the upper hand should they fight again, something Ozpin was against.

"He once fought a colleague of mine, who goes by the name of Qrow Branwen, though he'd be better known as a friend of your mother's and the uncle of Ruby and Yang. More importantly, do you have any understanding of why he knew who you were?" Ozpin was unsure if Ichigo had ever been introduced to Qrow, though events had meant he and Masaki had always kept a distance and Ozpin had never kept up with what had become of it, instead mentioning the topic and turning the tables back into his favour.

"I told you I had no damn clue who he was before tonight. As far as I see it ,seeing as you haven't really given me much to base it off, he's a crazed up psycho who fights for fun, is strong enough to have a stalemate against both my team and Blake's and he tends to go on villainous rants about revenge and 'reincarnates', none of which makes a damn bit of sense to me!" Ichigo had given up the mind games, not to mention taking advice from Zangetsu on how to have a goddamned conversation with someone was plain annoying.

Ozpin's hand twitched at the mention of reincarnates, but other than that no visible reaction was shown to what Ichigo had said, leading Ozpin to continue "I see. I would make an advisory note that you should not engage this man in combat, Ichigo. You will lose should you two ever fight again."

Ichigo looked like he'd been punched, angrily responding "But now I have Zangetsu, there's no way he'll get away with what he did before!"

"And what is it that he did before, may I ask?" Ozpin used the slip up from the teen to keep him talking.

"After he beat me he kept spouting his crap to the others. He was fighting to kill from the start and that put them in danger, but it was his talking. He was hurting them more with words than attacks and seeing him do that to the others, to see someone that's usually always so strong-willed in my eyes showing fear… it's unforgivable." He relented. Ruby was so relieved by the end of that fight that he could almost feel her fear without ending up in that plane or whatever it was. The others showed varying levels of relief but it was a couple of things that got to him the most.

He had seen Ren fighting before, right as he went down and when he awoke. He had never seen his brother figure in such a rage, rage that Ichigo hadn't seen in the boy since the times when they first met, back after the Nuckelavee had destroyed his home.

Then was Nora, what he had seen of the girl herself different from her usual bubbly personality. Even after his return to the fight and the talks afterwards, aside from maybe a small joke or two she hadn't spoken much, and that alone was enough for him to see. Nora was always the funny, joking and crazy one, and not much had ever gotten her to stop being that girl. To see her so quiet unnerved Ichigo and saddened him. It reminded him far too much of the girl when they had first met, who was so scared and questioning why she was still alive.

That left Blake, the one who he was injured trying to help. He had seen it, since the docks and them waiting for Ozpin to speak to one of them, that she was blaming herself for his near-death condition, purely because he had been injured while helping her. He'd tried to comfort her, and it seemed to work before she spoke to Ozpin. After she returned though, it seemed as though her fear had.

This wasn't the fear Ichigo had seen in her about her secret being revealed, this was worse. And to see someone so strong-willed and unwavering look like she had, broke him and made him hate Kugo Ginjo for something like this happening to his friends.

"One final thing, Ichigo." Ozpin continued, having allowed the teen to reflect on himself.

The teen only looked down at his clenched fist.

"Before, you said your sword was named Zangetsu, the same name you called out at the docks before it changed. What is Zangetsu?" He inquired.

Calling him a weapon wouldn't suffice in Ichigo's book, so he grabbed the blade by the handle and said "An ally."

Ozpin sipped his coffee, before taking his cane and standing "Perhaps you do not understand the question or my relevance as to its answer. Maybe someday soon when you understand what I'm asking you about you will speak to me, though it seems that day will not be today. Goodbye Ichigo."

Ozpin left the teen to his own confusion.

* * *

Indeed, it was a foreshadowing of things to come, Ozpin told himself, standing from his desk and looking through the window as several Atlesian ships came into view.

* * *

 **Well there's chapter one of Volume 2 over and done with. For the record, I did include a warning at the start that the food fight would be shit. Feel free to put reviews about that part and tell me how bad I did it, it won't be like I haven't already said the same things to myself.**

 **Anyway, on a less me-being-a-grumpy-person note: onto the chapter.**

 **So yes, in the actual episode the food fight was the entire focus, but when I realized how shit my chances were at writing that I changed up the focus of the chapter onto a more emotional side of it.**

 **So the second half of the chapter, for those who haven't seen RWBY, is a flashback to right after the docks (I know it wasn't in this episode but I chose to put it there as it added to the story and allows a good follow through to the start of the next chapter). I've wanted to try an Ozpin POV for a while and I feel like it went pretty well.**

 **For those who've seen the actual episode, the Torchwick segment at the end wasn't included because I didn't think it would change at all or involve any details I didn't have at the end of the previous chapter. Rewriting what we've already seen before is boring to read and write, TBH.**

 **Onto the parts where I tried to include emotion, I'm trying to portray how characters would've reacted to Ichigo almost dying against Ginjo, and how Ichigo would've reacted to that. Apart from that I tried to write Blake's reaction because of the stuff in volume 2 that focuses towards her and because her character is easier to write from that kind of standpoint.**

 **Apart from that, the next two chapters are already written, so look forward to them in the future.**

 **Although I stuck to a schedule for publishing pretty well last Volume, I don't want to do that right now. I'm at a point in my life where my focus has to be on schoolwork primarily, so writing will have to take a bit of a backburner.**

 **Looking at it now, I'm still not sure how people will take this chapter, so I'd really appreciate reviews, even if they're just to point out my mistakes.**

 **Speaking of (before I forget), reviews from the last chapter:**

Guest

I mean, yes, Ginjo is a fairly blank slate without much real development. But it certainly looks like the slate is just being filled with "generic asshole villian." It would have been nice to see some sort of reflection and even remorse about his course in his past life. Like, some idea that he wasn't just killing Ichigo and working with obvious evil people because he's still just a dick. Still, plenty of time for progress on that front and optimistic about it hopefully turning into something good.

Besides that though great chapter and looking to seeing more of reactions to Ichigo having aura and the fallout of that.

 **Yeah, I know that was how I portrayed him in the last chapter, but apart from internal thoughts having him outright say stuff like that would be too much of an indication of Ichigo's past life, which he is completely unaware of. Don't worry though, already got stuff like that waiting for you a couple of chapters from now.**

Kestes

Whoo! It looks like the Old Man has had his own reflection. Its nice to see not only the Protagonist having to reflect pn their own issues.

Love what youve done with Ginjo. I have to agree. Kubo was gypped towards the end of the series - though I dont think the reception that the Fullbringer Arc helped.

Cheers,  
Kes

 **That was something I had planned for a while. I liked what I did by turning the tables and having the Old Man appear as the one in the wrong instead of the Hollow, it puts a real turn on things to show that some things have changed because Ichigo was reincarnated. I'm hoping to do more with Ginjo in the future, and I like what I've done with his character so far, and I'm glad you do too :)**

Guest

Another awesome chapter of this awesome story. So hyped for the next chapter already!

I see somebody else already asks if Ichigo will ever go masked. I think it would be awesome. I always loved the look and the voice of Ichigo with his mask on. Was always great. Especially in his fight against Grimmjow where his mask began to break and he only had a few patches left on his face.

 **Total agreement on my part, and all I'm gonna say is sit tight and wait patiently :P**

Rob

Can't wait for more

 **Well I hope you're satisfied, if not I understand and am sorry :)**

 **Thanks, see ya next time (hopefully) :D**


	18. Protector Or Protected?

**Woot Woot!**

 **More on the chappie train!**

 **So this is yet another chapter I'd written back during my break (don't worry, I went back and proofread it again before writing this AN (which I'm writing just before publishing) to make sure there weren't any mistakes or parts I didn't like).**

 **Honestly I'm overjoyed to see my nervousness about writing seemed to be completely pointless for the last chapter, with nothing but positive reviews all around, so thank you all for that you beautiful people/things/whatever you identify as in modern society.**

 **So, onto a less story related note: Happy 2018! It's been a rocky start so far (if you don't know what I'm talking about it's better that way) but we can still turn it around.**

 **In the great words of David Tennant:**

 **"It's up to us to make it okay. It's time to be positively rebellious and rebelliously positive. As long as we stand up for what we believe in, don't give in to anger or violence. Look out for the little guy. Keep an eye on the big guys. And just generally try not to be dicks."**

 **Anyway, I'm gonna go back to my train of being late for things and think about the ending of Life Is Strange (and ignore the voice telling me to play Before The Storm, I already lost enough hours interacting with everything that moved in the first game).**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Seriously. Not a fucking penny to my name. I just realized what I said and I SWEAR that wasn't an intentional pun.**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Chapter 2: Protector Or Protected?**

* * *

It was official, Ozpin surmised. James really liked maintaining an image, the amount of airships present overkill or not, it wasn't like the Atlesian general cared.

He and Glynda watched on from the vantage point the window in his office provided, the window itself taking up the majority of the wall, also being the face of a clock tower. He wished he couldn't say the ships were that obvious, but he could point out each one of them and spot details of each ship.

Need he mention that the landing platforms were on the opposite side of campus?

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda stated, not that Ozpin could disagree.

"Well running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." He justified, though that really was the only justification he had for James' behaviour these days. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." He continued, seeing no point in hiding honesty regarding the fleet of ships that had shown up on his doorstep.

Beeping alerted him to the elevator and in the mighty phrase 'speak of the devil and he shall appear', Ozpin turned saying "Come in." and the general himself appeared.

James Ironwood was the general of Atlas military and the headmaster of Atlas academy, and he certainly went to lengths to keep up appearances. The general was a well-built man wearing a white overcoat, with a grey undercoat, black sweater and a red neck tie, coupled with the usual white glove on his right hand. He also wore suit pants coloured the same as his overcoat and silver boots.

The general was a pale man, though typical of somebody hailing from Atlas in the snowy northern continent. His hair was mostly black, though greying around the sides, the metal transmitter on his forehead as visible as ever.

"Ozpin." The man greeted happily, courteous as ever.

"Hello general." Ozpin greeted.

"Please, drop the formalities." The man chuckled, walking to give a handshake to his ally. "It's been too long. And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met." Well the man hadn't lost that tendency at least.

"Oh James." Glynda sarcastically responded, her gaze narrowing as she leaned over to Ozpin "I'll be outside." Ozpin believed that was what his students would refer to as a 'shut-down'.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit." The general surmised, before Ozpin pressed to a questioning tone.

"So what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival." He said while passing the man a cup of coffee.

"Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to… catch up." The general replied.

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends. However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned." Ozpin casually slipped a concerning matter into the conversation, no need to make false accusations or turn to hostility.

"Well… concern is what brought them here." The general replied, his happy tone replaced with a business mode, so to speak.

"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult-." Ozpin said, speaking off topic as to allow the general to give the answers without being asked.

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men." James replied.

Ozpin sipped his coffee before placing his cup down with a sigh, replying "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression." Ozpin implied his meaning. The rest of the world believed them in a time of peace, and it was the purpose of the headmasters to keep it that way. James' reckless decision to bring an entire fleet would be misinterpreted, and that would be dangerous.

"But if what Qrow said is true-." James retorted.

Ozpin interrupted him "If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival; a time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent." Ozpin retorted, the calculative gleam in his eye.

"I'm just being cautious." Ironwood justified.

"As am I, which is why we continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can. But that also means keeping the attention away from ourselves, so that we can protect what we must without scrutiny. This is the first time an ancient power has appeared for years and it is on our side, and that is an advantage we have to keep to ourselves, and defend at all costs." Ozpin replied, trying to explain the feeling he had about recent events. That power would be needed, that was what his gut feeling told him, and that feeling had been sharpened over many years.

"Believe me, I am." James replied before leaving.

As he left, he turned, continuing "But ask yourself this, the ancient power among them regardless, do you believe your children can win a war?" Ozpin was adamant sometimes, and James was trying to make him see the argument that meant military response would be necessary to protect more lives.

"I hope they never have to." Ozpin replied as the general left. So many statements made in one day that brought such memories to him.

He didn't have time to stop and be nostalgic this time, banishing the thoughts from his head.

* * *

"Pretty sneaky sis, but you've just activated my trap card!" Yang retorted.

' **There is a joke to be made here but I feel as if that joke has already been milked the shit out of.'**

' _And I'll pretend I understand you while I try to study. Emphasis on the word 'try' because you keep talking!'_

' **You expect me not to comment when all you're doing is reading while they don't understand what a library is for?'**

' _Exactly! A library is for silence, so shut the hell up Zangetsu!'_

' **A library is for silence outside, I can be as loud as I want inside your mind'** the statement was followed by hysterical laughter, and Ichigo gave up.

That was how events had been going for the last half an hour or so, with Ruby's day of exciting activities involving board games. That Ruby had decided to do in the library. And that she had dragged Team JNIPR along to.

When the board game she selected had a four player limit.

That got Weiss to retract her statement about Ruby putting in the maximum amount of forethought pretty quickly.

Or simply stated, Ren was reading, Nora was sleeping, Jaune was reading comics and Pyrrha was studying.

' **Nerd!'**

' _Shut up!'_

And in which Ichigo himself had given up on studying because of Zangetsu and instead had retrieved the book he had borrowed from Blake (before the docks, seeing as she had avoided him a decent amount since) and started reading.

' **Hahaha! This is hilarious! This dumbass thinks that the threat of stealing the protagonist's body will actually work!'** And Zangetsu was having the time of his life reading it while Ichigo practiced Shunpo in his inner world.

At least he hadn't borrowed any of the smut he had _definitely_ seen in Blake's collection before said teen had quickly hidden it.

' **Maybe ya can borrow that one next? I get bored easily'**

' _No, just no.'_

Ichigo listened as they continued, though he couldn't look up from the book or risk Zangetsu losing interest and instead wanting to fight him, which he was happy to rest without risk of Zangetsu pulling him in to fight randomly.

Though mostly all he heard was Ruby losing badly at the game while Yang gloated victoriously and various board game pieces were launched past the table he sat at, and he spied Pyrrha swapping Jaune's comic for a textbook, instead reading it herself.

' **Studying on rotation? That takes dedication seeing as most people just ignore it altogether'**

' _Studying advice from you?'_

' **I'm not sayin' ya should do it, it's boring as shit to watch'**

' _That sounds better'_

Okay… now Weiss had started cackling maniacally, and that was something to be feared… if he knew what was going on, because as much as he'd like to know what that was he'd undoubtedly be stuck fighting Zangetsu if he looked away from the book.

That was followed by Jaune getting up and asking to play, before being denied.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know I've been told that I'm a natural, born leader!" Jaune boastfully replied.

"By who? Your mother?" Weiss sceptically replied.

"Pyrrha and Ichigo said it too!" He retorted quickly.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved from their table.

"For the record I said he could be a great leader, as far as he is now I'd say he's getting there and 'natural born leader' is pushing it. I'd join in the conversation more than that but if I stop looking at this book I'm going to suffer for it." Ichigo replied, getting weird looks upon his analogy, before he replied "Really good story, can't stop reading." Or just plain lied, seeing as he couldn't actually read it with his Zanpakuto giving a constant commentary or laughing at what he read.

It seemed that was followed by Jaune getting shut down again, before another voice joined "Sup losers?" Sun greeted.

Ichigo decided _'Fuck it'_ and put the book away, responding "Yo" with a small wave.

' **There will be retribution for this act of treachery. Let that be known.'**

"Hey Sun." Ruby replied in her usual cheery demeanour.

' _Wasn't she just suffering with Weiss about losing that game?'_

' **Who knows? I couldn't hear over the knife in my back'**

' _Really? We're really being that petty about it?'_

' **Yes'**

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen, Carrot Top, Carrot Top's Team." Sun greeted.

"Should we be disappointed that we didn't get nicknames?" Jaune said questioningly.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that!?" Weiss retorted for her nickname, Ichigo just shrugged, Sun would be using 'carrot top' as payback on him forever for the 'Jungle Jim' nickname when they first met (Ichigo didn't think of asking for a name and instead addressed him with a nickname).

"I never got the chance to formally introduce you to my old friend." Sun ignored Weiss, gesturing to Neptune as he talked (all Ichigo really got was his name when he was too busy being annoyed about being covered in grape juice).

"Uh… aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune asked, realising how loud they were all being.

Surprisingly, that seemed to be enough to get Ren to look up from his book, yelling "Thank you!" for the statement, seeing as none of his friends had been being quiet in a goddamn library.

Ichigo laughed at that, seeing as it must've truly irritated Ren to even garner a response, though the laughter was renewed when Nora awoke with a startled yell of "Pancakes!"

"Shut up, don't be a nerd." Sun quickly retorted to Neptune, he was trying to make good impressions.

Being called a nerd quickly got Neptune to retort, with him making tutting noises before amending "Intellectual. Okay. Thank you." He wasn't a fan of the word nerd, but at least intellectual showed intelligence without insulting him.

"I'm Neptune." He introduced himself before he ended up in a conversation with Sun, seeing as Ichigo was the only one who actually knew him.

"Y'know, your name makes more sense when you aren't covered head to toe in grape juice. I was considering calling you Purple Pete before that." Ichigo joked, though it was more an inside joke between him and Sun about his difficulties with names and substituting them for nicknames.

"Really? You've corrupted another one." Neptune stated towards Sun, who grinned and chuckled at his friend.

"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked the new teen present (somewhat hoping this teen wouldn't have some complicated history or have committed any crimes recently).

"Haven… And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel." He flirted.

' **I'm not the only one hearing cheesy romance music, right?'**

' _I'm not hearing it, but I definitely get the feeling someone should be playing it'_

' **Really, you? You're the last person I expected to understand that you romantically impaired douchebag'**

' _Couldn't refrain from mentioning the book for two minutes, could ya?'_

' **If this was a video game, there would always be the subtitle in the top corner, Zangetsu will remember that'**

Ichigo mentally groaned at his Zanpakuto, seeing the Hollow's usual tendencies for insulting him and saying things he didn't understand, though this time instead of some convoluted shit probably pertaining to Ginjo it was calling him romantically impaired.

' **Dense as a fucking diamond'** Zangetsu muttered.

"Are you kidding me?!" Ichigo heard Jaune whisper-shout next to him, which voiced Ichigo's thoughts exactly, though Jaune was talking about Neptune's so far successful attempts at flirting with Weiss while Ichigo didn't understand what the hell the Hollow was talking about.

' **Now if we look to our left we will see total contrast to what we saw earlier'** Zangetsu deadpanned.

"I never took you as the board-game-playing type!" Sun said, smile never leaving as he leaned on the table next to Blake.

Though unfortunately for Sun it seemed his flirtation attempts would not go nearly as smoothly as Neptune's had (that guy had a magnet or some cheat code or something, Sun just knew it, it wasn't anything to do with him, nothing at all.) with Blake responding "Right, well I think I'm done playing, actually. I'll see you guys later." As Sun stepped back while Blake left the area the teens occupied.

' **Ugh, looks like your own forethought is failing you now. Go talk to her when she can't find anything to deflect you to, dumbass'**

' _Why? She's pretty much been avoiding me for a couple of weeks now'_

' **And if you want to find out why, then the best solution is to ask the source of the issue, moron'**

' _Touché'_

Sun was left to pull his arms up in a confused shrug while Ichigo just said "I'm gonna go talk to her, she's been a little off lately."

As he left he couldn't help but chuckle at Nora's response to the scenario, simply being "Women." With raised arms.

* * *

As Ichigo exited the building, he left somewhat baffled.

' _How can somebody at a walking pace get away so easily?'_

' **Simple, she moves at the speed of 'I've got issues I want to avoid', and lemme tell ya; that can be fuckin' fast when it wants to be'**

' _And I'm 'issues' in that scenario?'_ He responded sarcastically.

' **Simply put, yes. Now how about you put that Shunpo to use?'** Zangetsu suggested, seeing an opportunity for more training.

Ichigo agreed that would be an easier course of action, but one issue came to mind.

Beacon's layout was huge and confusing, and Shunpo or not this was going to take a while.

' **Best way would be to get a vantage point, wouldn't it?'** Zangetsu used his somewhat limited control of Ichigo's body to force the teen's head upwards, towards Beacon tower.

' _You've gotta be kidding me'_

' **Nope, this is the beginning of my vengeance for my beloved reading material!'**

' _Fuck my soul, just fuck it'_

Ichigo believed he would in the future forever state that the next twenty minutes of his life would be the most painful.

His first attempt he tried to flash upwards, he got a good ten foot, before gravity kicked in like it seemed to be doing too often to ruin his day.

That was when the first round of laughter on Zangetsu's part began, and Ichigo decided he wanted to kill some Hollows in spite after this.

It took about four more attempts before Ichigo realised he wouldn't get nearly high enough just by jumping with Shunpo (he had gotten about twenty feet, how tall was Beacon tower again?).

His next method was a bit more thought out, if dangerous, and Ichigo began using Shunpo against the wall to allow him another point to step off of.

He got a decent amount further before gravity kicked in again, and Ichigo wondered when his Aura would run out (probably at the worst time possible because the universe loved screwing with him).

Pattern recognition allowed more this time, and as he flashed up the side of the tower, kicking himself into further steps of Shunpo against the wall, when gravity began to work against him he grabbed the nearest ledge and pulled himself up.

' _Well I got most of the way up, does that count? Please tell me that counts for something'_

' **Nope, keep going!'** Zangetsu was disappointed he hadn't gotten more failed attempts before Ichigo switched tactics or gave up, but seeing him improve at least told Zangetsu he was doing something right.

' _Well, this'll either help me find Blake faster or turn out to be a total waste of time AND get me expelled. Here goes everything'_ Ichigo really wasn't sure what kind of punishment he would receive for climbing up Beacon Tower, which would in itself involve going past Ozpin's office, which put him at maximum risk for getting busted for it.

Well at least he knew if he stopped and started floating in mid-air that Goodwitch had found him. He kept that as solace for falling, even if he wasn't sure if her telekinesis worked on people.

He jumped, flashing up the wall before gaining a hold on a symbol on the clock and using it to pull himself into another step.

Which he promptly overshot, launching himself above the peak of the tower before panicking and correcting his course mid-flight and landing on his ass.

Looking over the ledge next to him, he could only surmise _'That was fucking close.'_

' **Zangetsu to dumbass, once you're done celebrating maybe you should actually look for Emo-Kitty'**

' _You never cease to find new nicknames for people, do you?'_

' **Nope'**

Standing up, though cautious as to not fall off the ledge, Ichigo looked out over the campus. He could see almost everything from up here, from the airships coming and leaving Beacon to the dorms and everything in between.

Speaking of dorms…

' _Is that her?'_ He was referring to a vague image he could see on the dorm roof. It's not like he had a pair of binoculars.

' **Maybe if somebody made an effort to understand how the hell that weird ass 'plane' worked we could figure that out a little easier'** Zangetsu deadpanned.

' _Shunpo now, figure out if we're right after?'_

' **Well if it means I get to see you break your legs, then fine'**

' _I feel like I hang out with Nora too much, she's starting to have an effect on you. There is no way that is a good thing'_

And with that, Ichigo dropped off the side of Beacon tower before using the wall as a kick-off point for several bouts of Shunpo.

* * *

He landed on the dorm rooftop a few minutes later, panting and out of breath.

' **You took five minutes for something you could've done in a second if you stopped being so inept at long distance Shunpo'**

' _Shut… the hell… up please'_

"Ichigo?" came Blake's questioning voice at seeing him appear. She had come up to the rooftop to be alone with her own thoughts but was distracted by the sudden presence of her friend.

"I – I -." He coughed "Gimme a sec." He let out a bout of coughing before returning to sucking in air greedily.

Blake chose to wait to see what he wanted seeing as he was standing in the way of the door, blocking her only exit bar jumping off the roof or moving him.

"I want to know what's wrong. You've been giving me the cold shoulder for days now." Ichigo bluntly stated, seeing no need to sugar-coat the subject. Blake had been cold and distant towards him more-so than anyone else since the docks, and that both hurt and confused him.

"I – I don't know what you mean. I've been hanging out with you just like I have everyone else since what happened at the docks." She deflected, trying to make an excuse for why she had avoided the teen.

' **Jeez, if that ain't an indicator something's up, then nothing is. Emo-Kitty usually isn't the stuttering excuse making one, the Scythe-Shortie is'**

' _Again with the nicknames?'_

Halting his conversation with Zangetsu, Ichigo pressed the advantage Blake had given him in the conversation "I never even mentioned the docks. Either way, since then, you've ignored me or brushed me off and frankly I think this is the closest we've had to an actual conversation since then."

Seeing the traces of guilt in Blake's gaze, he once more walked up to her with practiced ease, placing a hand on her shoulder "If you want to talk, you know where I'll be." He ended with a small smile, hoping for the outcome these conversations usually ended in.

What he didn't expect was for Blake to shrug off his arm and walk away, saying "Talking won't fix everything, just don't get involved." She stated somewhat angrily.

' **Well congrats, lady-killer. You've found a new way to solve no problems whatsoever and leave us with more questions.'**

Responding to the same thought process as Zangetsu, Ichigo continued _'Don't get involved in what?'_

Said thought was promptly followed by the realisation _'I just climbed fucking Beacon Tower to get completely shut out. Never before has there been a greater waste of time that could've been solved by checking their dorm room first'_

* * *

Instead of following after Blake, Ichigo returned to his dorm room and chose to go to what seemed to be his new reading hobby: Trying to make sense of the crazy shit Ginjo had said back at the docks.

' _The definition of reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul inside another body, though it's mostly used in religion and stuff like that. How does that relate to what Ginjo said?'_

' **Spoilers.'**

' _Even if it means stopping somebody dangerous to both me and my friends, you still won't tell me who he is or why he knows me. Why?'_

' **All ya need to know is he's a crazy psychotic bastard who nearly killed ya and your friends. What other excuse do ya need to beat the shit outta the guy?'**

' _The excuse of knowing who he is, and knowing what it is you aren't telling me!'_

' **Well maybe I! – Just don't amateur, just don't. You'll sleep better for the rest of your life if that mystery is never solved'** Zangetsu got angry before calming himself to speak to his wielder.

"So, how'd talking with Blake go?" Nora responded to his appearance in her usual happy tone, though what frightened the crap out of Ichigo was the fact his friend had appeared next to him, hanging upside down out of his hammock.

"Son of a -! Jeez Louise, Nora you nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack." Ichigo reacted, shocked by her sudden presence.

"Who's Louise? Better yet, you didn't answer my question." Nora responded eagerly, used to how her friend acted.

"She's not the only one that would like to know. You aren't the only one that noticed Blake acting differently since the docks, even if you were the first, though whether it was you or Yang that noticed first is still in debate." Ren added, seeing the usual distraction on his brother's face.

"Why was he the one that noticed first though? Something we don't know about Ichigo?" Nora questioned, her excited attitude never leaving, and if the eyebrow movement from Nora was anything to go by she was insinuating things.

"Nora, please, no jokes like that. I get enough of that crap from Yang." He drawled out.

"Maaaaybe because there's some truth to it that only Yang and I can see?" Ichigo honestly couldn't tell if Nora was teasing him or trying to solve a mystery anymore.

' **Probably both, and trying to create a new plot to force pinky to make pancakes at the same time'**

' _Of all the nicknames you make, Ren's might be the least interesting'_

' **Nicknames are hard, okay?!'**

Sending a pleading look to Jaune (after the look sent to Ren was responded in a look that probably meant 'this is what you get for teasing me and Nora'), he was denied when his leader responded "Busy figuring out stuff for the dance coming up, sorry Ichigo." Seeing as whatever he was 'figuring out' involved a guitar and what looked like lyrics he was writing it seemed Ichigo would get no help from Jaune.

"Pyrrha, can I get some help please?" He questioned his remaining teammate, desperate for an escape seeing as the members of team RWBY weren't there (they usually held Yang back and Nora usually joined in when Yang did, even though Nora was making up for Yang not being here now).

"I'm still wondering about how your conversation with Blake went, seeing as the original subject of the conversation went off topic rather quickly." She responded, even if mention of the upcoming dance seemed to dull her mood slightly (which may have had something to do with the glance she sent at Jaune).

Although the help he had hoped for didn't completely change the conversation topic, it distracted Nora long enough because she wanted to know how the talk with Blake went.

Seeing his team's gaze on him (even Jaune had stopped what he was doing), Ichigo saw no other option than the truth "I tried talking to her but she didn't want to talk to me. She got angry and left after shrugging me off again." He tried to keep what he was feeling out of his voice but he could tell at least some of his anger got through.

' **You get angry because she isn't letting you help. If you want advice now I'd say it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission'**

' _What?'_

Then everything went black.

* * *

"What the – Oh for fucks sake Zangetsu!" Ichigo yelled at the blackness that greeted him.

" **No need to be so loud, dumbass"** The Zanpakuto greeted him, appearing before him.

"You can appear here?" Ichigo questioned, still confused as to why the Zanpakuto brought him here.

" **Told ya somebody needed to figure out how this fuckin' place worked, and frankly all I can do is bring ya here, not sure how the hell to do all that other shit."** Zangetsu responded.

Looking around, Ichigo recognised his own image lying on the floor, and the Aura of his friends around him. Luckily it seemed they had returned to their own business even when he blacked out, though it did look like his attention had just returned to the book he was reading.

"What did you mean before, better to ask for forgiveness than permission, why did you bring me here?" Ichigo questioned the Hollow.

" **Just a hunch based on old habits dying hard. Try and find Emo-Kitty and her team, and let's see if we're missing anything interesting."**

"This completely feels like an invasion of privacy." Ichigo retorted.

"… **Really? It's not like we'll see anyone walking out of a shower, you can only see goddamn Aura here, not actual images ya goddamn prude."** Zangetsu deadpanned.

"I wasn't talking about seeing anything I meant hearing something that doesn't have anything to do with us!" Ichigo responded embarrassedly based on Zangetsu's assumption of him being a prude.

" **Eh, worry about crap like that later. Now try and follow the Aura like ya did before."** Zangetsu responded, leading to Ichigo giving up arguing in favour of focussing.

He felt his own energy, a seemingly endless well of power that he could barely hold onto. Looking past his own power he felt that of his team around him, and looking further than that he felt Team RWBY's across the hall and he _pulled._

Then he was somewhere else, and he felt their Aura around him, signalling that he had managed to move himself.

Looking around to see if Zangetsu had followed him, he saw the bent over form of the Hollow holding his mouth, as if to prevent himself from barfing.

" **It's like goddamn fast travel. Jeez, give a Hollow a little warnin' next time, would ya?"**

"Okay, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells…" Weiss' voice appeared, interrupting wielder and Zanpakuto.

"Oh, hurray, we're actually listening to something important instead of intruding on something." Ichigo sarcastically jabbed at Zangetsu, with the Hollow giving a triumphant grin at being right.

"Uh… who?" Ruby responded to Weiss, though it was more that the heiress had used a dumb word like ne'er-do-wells.

" **It's like she has to use long words to sound smarter"**

"Or that she just uses long words that she expects people to understand." Ichigo responded.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason… We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation." Weiss continued, trying to be logical and keep her teammates out of danger. They had gone up against someone like that man that was so much stronger than them and yet her team still wanted to do this.

"Well, yeah, but -." Ruby tried to retort, only to be interrupted by Weiss.

"We're not ready!" The heiress heatedly responded, thinking about the kind of danger they could be putting themselves in.

"And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is but it's coming! Whether we're ready, or not." Blake responded, trying to make her team see it the way she did. Inaction was accomplishing nothing to stop the people that threatened to destroy what she cared about.

"She's putting this shit all on them when we're here to help them. Why the fuck?" Ichigo questioned, sitting against the wall. It both angered and saddened him that they didn't seem to realise they had people that would help them. Sun, Ichigo and Ichigo's entire team, and yet they seemed to think it was their responsibility alone.

" **They think they're protecting you, probably."** Zangetsu spoke, with experience shining through instead of his usual humour and psychoticism.

"Why do they I think I need protecting? It's the reason I got this power, to help me protect them, dammit!" Ichigo punched the wall, though no sound emerged from the impact.

"Okay, all in favour of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organisation conspiring against the kingdom of Vale… say "aye"!" Ruby exclaimed.

Though… that seemed to be enough for Zangetsu's humour to return, the Hollow remarking **"Fucking hell, she just said all of that in one breath."**

"Yes! I love it when you're feisty!" Yang responded, though Ichigo couldn't actually see who she was talking to, only being able to perceive Aura.

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss responded, seeing there was no way to dissuade her team.

" **She was against the notion of it and now she's convinced?!"**

"None of you said "aye"" Ruby mumbled dejectedly.

"Alright then, we're in this together." Blake responded, happy that some action was being taken.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby's enthusiasm wasn't missing at least.

"Yeah!" Yang continued, as it seemed such enthusiasm must've been genetic between the two sisters.

"Ahh! I left my board game in the library!" Ruby's enthusiasm quickly turned to realisation and surprise, though it seemed in Weiss statement of "We're doomed." That Zangetsu didn't have to deadpan for them.

Ruby rushed out of the door with the response "I'll be right back!" before Ichigo was left with the Aura of the three remaining teens.

"So when are we going to tell Team JNIPR about this?" Weiss questioned, trying to further any plans they had while Ruby went to retrieve the board game.

Ichigo could practically _feel_ Blake's emotional turmoil in response to that statement before she responded "We're not. It's better to not involve too many people."

"And what if we run into that guy from the docks? You saw what he could do! He managed to run a stalemate with both of our teams at once and you're saying backup would be a bad idea?" Weiss retorted, confused that logical decision was once more being thrown out the window by her team.

"Blake, I think Weiss might be right, that guy was a literal monster and we're willingly going against that with less help. It might be a good idea to get others involved, Ichigo and Pyrrha at least." Yang continued to her partner, seeing as Pyrrha was the best in their year and Ichigo was the one that scared the guy off the last time.

"We don't need to involve friends, it'll be too dangerous. Just leave him out of it and we'll figure out what to do if Ginjo gets involved." Blake responded, emotions once more in turmoil, though it didn't go unnoticed that she only referred to Ichigo when Yang had mentioned Pyrrha as well.

" **And logical decision is once again shot in the face in favour of emotions and fear. Idiocy -1, Logic -0"** Zangetsu surmised.

"She's not involving them because of me when I could be there, helping them." Ichigo said, more to himself than his Zanpakuto.

" **Well, to mimic the rose, all in favour of being the first Zanpakuto and his wielder to actively go against being protected by involving yourself in something that 'isn't our business'?"** Zangetsu held out a hand to his wielder.

Ichigo gladly took the hand, responding "Hell yeah."

" **Are people allergic to the word "aye" or something?"**

Zangetsu's question wasn't answered as Ichigo realised the jab against him "Did you seriously use some inspirational bullshit as the chance to make a jab that I didn't want to pry?"

" **Maybe…"**

The conversation was interrupted when Ichigo felt _something_ , and as he turned to the source he glimpsed a fiery Aura, and a pair of amber eyes that seemed to be staring at _him_.

But as quickly as they appeared, they left, leaving Ichigo with the question "What the hell was that?"

Zangetsu shrugged, and all Ichigo could do was facepalm "It's gonna be one of those weeks, isn't it?"

* * *

 **So this chapter was pretty much continuing immediately after the previous chapter, with where it left off with Ozpin.**

 **For those questioning it, time for a mini rant. The timeline for parts of RWBY are VERY confusing, with little to nothing revealed about timeskips between episodes. There was a gap of the rest of a semester and break off between Volumes 1 and 2, and some of the episodes in Volume 2 have gaps of days or weeks between them (note lines in Volume 2 episode 5 (I think, it was Extracurricular) where they say Blake's been having issues for weeks that she didn't show in the previous episode). Not to also forget gaps like between Volumes 3 and 4 which I believe to be between a range of six to eight months-ish (for future reference when we get that far) whereas some authors only make it a few weeks (which is kinda crap because of the time Ruby spent unconscious being enough for seasons to change from Autumn to Winter).**

 **So I pretty much just set it up to have the episodes immediately after one another for convenience sake instead of trying to shoehorn in random numbers on how much time had passed between X event and Y event.**

 **After that we got the library segment, with some Ichigo and Zanny humour put in.**

 **After that came the segment that I'd kinda count as filler because it was me trying to emphasize that Ichigo isn't immediately great at everything and has to train to get better, and it kinda helped as a follow on to the next segment.**

 **So the state of play is pretty much Blake blaming herself for Ichigo nearly dying and trying to distance herself because of it, with backlash and a response I believe suited Ichigo.**

 **Apart from that we get more interactions between JNIPR before we get to the most important part of the chapter, being Ichigo's frustration on people trying to protect him when he wants to be the protector. If I were to liken it to a scene in RWBY it's like Jaune refusing training from Pyrrha because he wants to be the warrior instead of the 'lovable idiot stuck in a tree' leading to him finding out what Team RWBY was planning to do, which will link into events next chapter.**

 **Anyway, onto reviews:**

 **Kestes:**

Ha! Like the way you've included Ichigo's training with his reawakened powers instead shoehorning him into a food fight.

Honestly? Your writing quality is consistently high which is pretty cool considering how much you have actually written in such a short space of time.

Great job,  
Kes

 **Well if you liked that then you'll like some more of it in a couple of chapters :P Happy to see my writing is to a satisfactory standard and for the record I get so much done because I'm a complete dumbass who only now is realizing he should be doing revision for GCSEs instead of sitting on his ass all day XD**

 **Anyway, the next chapter might come next weekend but may be later, I think it's just habit for my old schedule that I'm choosing to publish now (where I've almost put them up weekly). TBH I'm trying not to confirm deadlines because I only have the next chapter completed and a fragment of the chapter after that.**

 **Thanks for reading, reviews are INCREDIBLY appreciated, see ya next time :D**


	19. Not Strong Enough

**Continue the chapter grind!**

 **Well, here's the last of the chapters I wrote while I was on break. Sorry to say the next chapter isn't completed and because of life I can't promise any deadlined date to have it to you guys, sorry.**

 **Anyway, on with Volume 2 :D**

 **Disclaimer : TheTechnoMage Doesn't own Bleach or RWBY**

 **TheTechnoMage also doesn't claim to be a pessimist. His glass isn't half empty, though that may be because it spilled when the glass was smashed. The same smashed glass he's currently using to threaten the last guy that looked at him funny.**

 **I need better jokes, or at least less depressing ones. For the record none of my jokes are to be taken seriously XD**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Chapter 3: Not Strong Enough**

* * *

The next day had started out as expected for Ichigo, with the usual routine. That meant sleeping in while his team got ready, then almost slugging the unlucky sod who got to wake him up.

"Oof!" Ichigo grunted as he fell to the floor from his hammock, before being offered a hand by Ren.

Taking the hand, Ichigo looked over to his leader, complimenting "Nice reflexes, good to see you've improved." To which he got a blank look from Jaune that pretty much said 'really? You almost punched my lights out for the how-many-ith time and you're complimenting me on dodging'.

"What?" He shrugged "You figured out how to dodge it faster than Nora did. Hell, she once thought she could use boxing gloves to knock me back out before I could hit her by accident." He said while watching his friend sheepishly laugh.

"It was a fool-proof plan!" Nora denied.

"Until you factor in once you knocked Ichigo out you had to wake him up again, which led to a very long process in which you got hit no matter how many bruises or black eyes you gave Ichigo beforehand." Ren retorted, fondly looking back at the memories that seemed like so long ago now.

Nora turned sheepishly to the other orange haired teen before saying "No hard feelings, right?" somewhat fearfully.

"Of course it's no hard feelings. Frankly I'm surprised this reflex has kept up for so many years." Ichigo replied, a small smile adorning his face despite the usual scowl.

"You would think if such an experience as that had occurred so frequently that perhaps brain damage would've gotten rid of the reflex for you by now." Pyrrha joked, used to the banter between her teammates. Perhaps if there were only four of them, one would feel left out while those three bantered, but as a team, and as friends, they had integrated together seamlessly. Not to mention the stories the three teens shared were always good for a few laughs.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Jaune asked, changing the topic towards the day's classes and plans for afterwards. He had seen other teams in combat class and it was blaringly obvious that while his team could work together some sense of co-ordination would be useful in fights.

"Well we're stocked for classes for most of the day, which leaves the only free periods as lunch and after classes end, so what's the plan?" Ren responded, looking through the teens' individual schedules.

' **Correction, they've got free periods, remember?'**

"I'm sorry guys; I've got stuff that needs doing today. Think we can schedule team training for another time?" Ichigo asked Jaune, seeing as he had his own plans that needed to be put into motion through the day.

"No, that's cool dude. What're you doing today anyway?" Jaune responded, curious as to Ichigo's announcement that he wouldn't be able to attend training. Ichigo was usually one of the first among them to jump at the chance to train, more-so since the docks. In fact, training was usually one of the few activities the teen would involve himself in, seeing as he spent some amount of time otherwise reading up on strange books (nobody said it to his face that they were wondering about the strange new hobby he'd adopted).

"I've just got some stuff I've gotta do that I'll need Sun's help for and he's free today, so we figured it'd be easiest." He lied, though Ren's eyes narrowed at his tone of voice near the end of his statement.

"Are you sure that's all? You've got that 'Me and Nora just tricked Masaki into going outside so we could steal from the junk food cabinet' look that practically screams not telling the truth." He questioned less out of accusation but concern. Ichigo had seemed somewhat off the day before, and it had been present since before Nora had started teasing him, so it wasn't caused by that.

"Just don't worry about it, okay? I know what I'm doing and I'll call you guys if anything comes up." He responded, leaving the door towards his first class of the day. It was going to be a long goddamn day indeed.

' **Idiocy AND Hypocrisy – 2, Logic – 0'**

* * *

Oobleck's class went as expected, the man expelling history at a mile a minute, with only few in the class able to keep up and the rest reading the textbook version of what their teacher was so intent on 'word vomiting' out quicker than humanly possible.

' **So, recap. Next stage of your 'master plan' is?'** Zangetsu asked, although he had helped Ichigo formulate most of the plan, seeing as Zangetsu knew what kind of plan Ichigo would make and even Ichigo knew that kind of plan wouldn't work.

Or in layman's terms, it was a Zangetsu plan with an Ichigo spray-paint, with Zangetsu giving the ideas and Ichigo applying them.

' _Wait until lunch and find Sun'_

' **Well ya remember that much at least. Question is what're ya gonna do if you're caught or get into action'**

' _Fight or argue that I should've been involved'_

' **Darn lotta good that'll do, if you've got a right to be involved then why aren't ya involving your team?'**

' _This isn't about being at the docks, this is about Ginjo. He made this personal to me and nobody else'_

' **Just don't get yaself killed, alright?'**

' _Sounds like you doubt your own training methods'_

' **That's not what I'm doubting'**

The conversation with his Zanpakuto finished, Ichigo let his gaze wander around the circular lecture hall, the green haired glasses wearing teacher zooming about the front without a care in the world. Still drinking the coffee that was probably more sugar than it was coffee by now.

It was when he noticed the hushed whispering between Team RWBY across the room, followed by a subtle glance towards him from Yang, that he felt slightly bitter from the previous day.

' **Anger later, class finishes in thirty seconds. Time to go find Monkey-Boy'**

The instant the bell rang the teens in the room were greeted by a flashing sound, leaving Professor Oobleck to respond "Well it seems Mr Kurosaki has the right idea about class finishing on the clock and not a minute later. It's nice to see people valuing every minute of their time. Class dismissed."

That left just about every teen in the room thinking _'If he's valuing every minute by leaving on the bell, what are you doing by drinking coffee every minute of the day?'_

Ichigo was unaffected by such thoughts, as he rushed to the cafeteria to find Sun to continue his plan.

Entering the cafeteria, he was greeted by the earlier students who got out of class (somehow) faster than he did to beat the lines for food, though the Monkey Faunus didn't seem to be among them.

' _Crap, figured he'd be here'_

' **Maybe showing up as early as possible wasn't the best call, and only having the dining hall as where you assumed he'd be left little option if he wasn't here'**

' _Though if I can't find him, I can find someone who might'_

Ichigo's thoughts travelled to the head of blue hair he could spot across the hall.

Walking towards it, he greeted "Hey Neptune, any idea where Sun is?" He wasn't trying to sound rude, but Sun would be needed right after classes ended and that left the only chance to find him being right now.

"Jeez, no 'Hey Neptune, how are you?', just straight to business, or whatever my knuckleheaded friend might have dragged you into." Neptune responded, standing from the table before walking, prompting Ichigo to follow.

"Sorry about that, it came out way more dickish than I'd have liked it to be. I've just got something I need his help with and it can't really wait until later." Ichigo responded sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"That's fine; I'm just messing with you. Surprising you didn't catch onto that seeing how often Sun does it." The 'cool guy' responded. He didn't have any issues with Ichigo and the orange haired teen was friends with Sun, so that at least earned him points as 'probably an alright guy' in Neptune's book.

After that, the two brightly haired teens fell into silence as they crossed the Beacon grounds before ending up near the front of the school by a tree.

"This should be the place." Neptune stated, prompting a questioning gaze from the orange haired teen.

"I think you might wanna get your eyes checked. There's nobody here. You sure you didn't get doubled back on yourself? Beacon's a big place, after -." Ichigo's retort was cut off by a familiar banana peel landing on his head.

' **Some strange acts seem to be afruit here'**

' _Really?'_

' **It's a lunchtime crime scene; we have a victim of as-salt!'**

' _You aren't done, are you?'_

' **A banana on your head and all friends around you laughing at you doesn't seem like an ap-peeling situation'** Zangetsu was getting far too much enjoyment out of Ichigo's current scenario, though the teen's next statement silenced the laughter of Neptune and Sun (who had climbed down from the tree after dropping the banana peel on Ichigo).

"And you all better start laughing before I split your heads open!" The teen yelled in outrage, veins visible in his forehead.

The unintentional pun, however, got renewed laughter out of Zangetsu.

' **Heh, hadn't thought of that one before'**

"Anyway, Neptune said you were looking for me, so what's up?" Sun asked, seeing the traces of friendly bantering disappear from Ichigo's face while the orange haired teen remembered his purpose.

"I've got a favour to ask." Ichigo stated, putting the beginnings of his plan into action.

* * *

"Great, we'll meet up near Yang tonight to go over what we've found." Ruby finished, seeing as her team knew the roles they were taking.

Ruby and Weiss were going to the CCT tower in Vale for Weiss to check Schnee records for any Dust inconsistencies.

Blake was heading to a White Fang faction meeting to try and gather Intel on any movements the Fang were making relating to Torchwick.

Finally, Yang was heading to a nightclub owner on the 'shady side of town' as her sister put it.

Ruby was confident in her team's ability to complete their individual tasks, but Ruby was well aware of the doubt in her own mind that she hadn't voiced in fear that she doubted her friends' abilities. That fear was of something going wrong or more enemies like Ginjo showing up, though that fear was mildly countered by the thoughts on all that they'd improved since the previous semester, but that didn't quell the fear entirely.

Ignoring her own fears, she finished "Let's do this!" with an enthusiastic fist pump.

And promptly jumped back with the rest of her team when she was replied to with an agreement of "Yeah!" from outside their open window, leading the team's sight to the monkey Faunus hanging upside down outside their window.

"Sun!" Blake exclaimed in surprise, pretty much voicing the thoughts of the rest of her team, especially seeing as they were on the top floor of a building.

"How did you get up there?" Yang inquired in her confusion.

"Ah it's easy; I do it all the time." Sun replied nonchalantly, somewhat expecting the reply he'd get.

"You do what?!" Weiss exclaimed indignantly at the statement of the Faunus that sounded somewhat disturbing in her mind.

"I climb trees all the time!" Sun happily responded, inwardly laughing at the heiress' reaction. He understood why Ichigo and the others enjoyed messing with Ice Queen so much now.

Though inward laughter may have turned in to all out rolling on the floor crying after Weiss' glare intensified tenfold.

"So are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?" Sun questioned, jumping through the window from his hanging point.

"WE. Are going to investigate the situation. As a team." If Blake annunciating the 'we' in the statement wasn't enough, the 'as a team' part was. Sun didn't show an outward reaction, seeing as that was pretty much what he'd expected to be told if what Ichigo had said was any indication.

"Sorry Sun, we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby justified, trying to sound nicer than Blake's statement seeing as it sounded like her teammate was being outright rude.

"Pfft, that's dumb. You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." Sun retorted, gesturing out the window with his hand.

That led to all of Team RWBY comically sticking their heads out of the window to see the aforementioned blue haired teen standing on a ledge outside their dorm room. "Sup?" The teen said coolly.

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby questioned confusedly. Sun may have climbed the tree, but Neptune's outfit didn't exactly scream 'climber' in Ruby's mind.

"I have my ways." Neptune responded, trying to continue his usual coolness without being outraged at pretty much being dropped off the roof and told to grab the ledge, though luckily it seemed Team RWBY hadn't heard that part (thankfully for his dignity).

Those thoughts aside, he continued his statement quickly while looking down "Seriously though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now." His cool personality aside, being cool didn't mean he would survive falling off this ledge unscathed.

Five minutes later, and both teens were in the dorm room, and it seemed Ruby had made the choice to let them help because they were there (or possibly to keep less people finding out what they were doing).

"All right. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner." Ruby surmised, as she missed the wink Neptune sent at Weiss as they passed (probably because she was pushing Neptune across the room to her sister).

"Everyone good?" Ruby finished.

"Actually Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all she is your sister." Weiss replied, laughing embarrassedly between sentences.

"But Weiss, who would go with you then?" Unfortunately it seemed Ruby was too innocent to understand what Weiss was getting at, and Weiss would be too embarrassed to say it out loud.

And everybody else would lose a source of amusement if they explained it. Mostly that.

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss replied, hoping to see success in her goal.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as her leader let out a few laughs before replying "Nah." With a shake of the hand before dragging the white haired girl out of the room, unheeding of the girls retorts of "But! But!"

Everybody else seemed to take the loss of humour as their cue to leave, exiting the doom room.

As the teens left the building, Sun halted for a second, allowing the other teens to overtake and get ahead of him, before the blonde raised a thumb up towards the building of the dorm room.

A flashing sound followed, and Sun continued, dashing to quickly catch up with Blake.

* * *

An hour later, and Sun found himself walking through the streets of Vale with Blake, silence dominant among them.

"You sure you know where we're going? We've been wandering around in a general direction for like, an hour now." Sun complained. If it was going to take this long couldn't they have taken a cab?

"Sun. Take a minute and think about what you just said. Do you think a terrorist organisation would have their recruitment meetings anywhere relatively close to the airships to a combat school or any residential area?" Blake retorted in response, not in the mood for conversation, Sun guessed.

Though whether guessing or actual fact, Sun wanted to talk to Blake, so he kept talking.

"I get that but if I'd known it'd take this long I would've gotten a cab or something. Not everyone has Ruby's speed or Ichigo's teleporty-whatever." Sun grumbled, voicing earlier thoughts while easing into his actual question.

"Getting there sooner won't matter if we show up before anyone else does. It'll be easier to blend in with a crowd." Blake justified, though when she faltered at the beginning of her statement Sun knew she was dodging what he meant.

"Well, if he's not around to be blunt as shit, I guess I'll do it for him." Sun started, prepared for some sort of retort or argument that would ultimately ensue.

"Why didn't you get Team JNIPR involved, Ichigo at least? And before you start with that 'as a team' crap you tried to pull earlier, I'd remember that you guys still dragged me and Neptune along, and frankly any justification you can use like that I was at the docks would also apply to him." Sun explained, seeing his statement as well thought out (the almost unending silence on Blake's part gave him a lot of time to think about phrasing) and hoping that would be enough for an answer.

"You and Neptune showed up outside our dorm room, so it'd be easier to involve you guys than have you inevitably follow along without being told what we were doing and something being messed up by accident." Blake retorted, justifying her response to the stubborn teen. What did any of this have to do with Ichigo?

"Yeah, sure. I'm totally convinced you would've done the same thing if Ichigo had shown up outside your dorm room." Sun retorted, entirely unconvinced by Blake's response. He knew he'd probably come off as dickish towards Blake but there was no logical reasoning to keep him out of this (which is what had both him and the orange haired teen baffled).

If there was one thing he'd learned from Ichigo during his time as friends with the teen, it's that sometimes being blunt will solve problems faster than trying to be nice or gentle about it. Though the analogy Ichigo used for it was tearing off a bandage.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake responded, eyes narrowed at Sun, who had momentarily forgotten he was still talking to her in favour of his own thoughts.

"I mean he's always trying to help you and ever since the docks you've pushed him away at every turn. When we met he said he'd left Beacon to help you because you were his friend, no obligation or anything. So what? Is helping a friend not a good enough excuse anymore?" Sun knew he was being brutally honest to his crush, but he'd seen how loyal Ichigo was to his friends and seeing that thrown in somebody's face started getting frustrating after a while.

Blake turned to stop and glare at him, ready to respond, before something picked up in her senses.

She whipped around, Gambol Shroud drawn and ready with the Faunus looking towards the rooftops nearby at the unfamiliar noise, though after a few seconds of looking with seemingly nothing showing up, she relaxed herself and sheathed her weapon.

Sun let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, sighing in relief at the close call. Returning his thoughts to the conversation he asked "You got an answer to that question or are we going back to awkward silences until we get there?"

When Blake turned and continued walking he expected he wouldn't get an answer, though that was rebuked when he heard the almost intelligible mutter "Not when it almost gets them killed." Before the two Faunus continued walking, with Sun understanding slightly better why Blake didn't want too many others involved.

* * *

It must have been an hour or so later before the two Faunus finally reached their destination, seeing as the sun that held an orange hue earlier had changed to the light of the moon now, all traces of day gone from the sky.

Sun had to admit, this side of Vale definitely met a (very depressing) industrial image, with all the cold grey warehouses dotted about. And the fact that there was barely anyone around, though that seemed more like an indicator they were getting close to their destination.

Blake traced the claw symbols with her hands, recognising the white chalk as the sign they were in the right place, "This is it" she stated to Sun, ignoring the fact it was the first thing she had said to him in an hour or so.

"You sure?" Sun responded before remembering her earlier anger it him probably hadn't dissipated, especially with the glare she was sending him. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it." He held his hands up in mock surrender, trying not to further anger the cat Faunus.

The glare seemed to relent after that, with Blake turning the corner to walk further into the warehouse, Sun following her wordlessly. Upon wandering further into the warehouse Sun saw Blake pick up a Grimm mask from a rack, Sun taking that as indication to do the same, turning the corner before asking "I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?" Some of this White Fang junk really confused him, though a topic like that seemed to get Blake to respond without her earlier anger.

"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." She explained, distracting herself from her own thoughts about how the next few minutes could go.

"Grimm masks, that's kinda dark." Sun responded, spooked by the idea that these people were so dedicated to a cause that essentially entailed mass genocide of an entire race.

"So was the guy who started it." Blake responded grimly, turning and continuing on seeing no reason to continue.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you." Sun stated bluntly at Blake's behaviour. At least she seemed to have more of a sense of humour when her friends were around.

The two Faunus donned the masks before entering the room, surprised at the immense crowd gathered within standing before a stage holding an oversized White Fang banner on top.

* * *

Ginjo took a sip from his flask as he walked to the side of the stage while Torchwick began his speech to the Faunus gathered (after he finally got them to stop jeering at his presence).

' _I'm gonna need more to drink if he keeps making puns of every Faunus type that talks to him'_ The Fullbringer thought to himself, bored that Cinder had ordered his presence in making sure Torchwick didn't fuck up again.

He wouldn't deny being pissed that the 'flaming bitch' had blamed Torchwick's failure, in part, on him because he had waited to get involved. The woman wasn't the easiest person to deal with, but orders were orders, and as long as Ginjo benefitted he didn't care.

In the end, that was all the world meant to him now, he was out for himself and nobody else. And he wanted it that way.

He'd never have to deal with the betrayal dealt to him by the Shinigami.

He'd never have to deal with loss, like he had upon the defeat of his fellow Fullbringers. That loss still haunted him, to see his people defeated, broken or dead. He had nobody anymore, and that solitude was unending torture.

He wanted to see it destroyed, to see any reminder of what had caused him this pain destroyed. That was why he wanted to break Ichigo. He wanted to see the boy crying on his knees. And this time there'd be no Shinigami to save him, and Ginjo wouldn't be so sparing.

It was only when he stopped in his recollection that he realised he'd squeezed his Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass so hard it had shown cracks at the edges. The man turned to watch Torchwick finishing his speech, and it seemed the man had riled them up well enough as large parts of the crowd moved forward to join up, causing a mass movement among the crowd.

Then his eyes stopped on the two forms within the crowd that seemed hesitant to move.

His eyes narrowed.

* * *

 _This was not good._ Was the general thought racing through Blake Belladonna's mind at the current time.

Not only had Torchwick been recruiting for the White Fang (quite successfully) but the man had also gotten a giant mech (an Atlesian Paladin, if she recalled correctly, though said machine wasn't even meant to be in distribution to the military yet).

The part that worried her the most though, was the dreaded presence of Kugo Ginjo. Blake's eyes had focussed on him the moment she saw him enter the stage alongside Torchwick, though the man didn't seem to have seen them yet.

"We need to go. Now." She whispered as urgently as she could to Sun, trying to avoid any actions that would garner the man's attention.

"And while I totally agree with you… he's already looking at us." Sun responded. It seemed their lack of movement had been enough to garner the man's attention, though a second later and the man looked to the roof before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Blake released a breath before stating "We should leave now with what we've learned. We're lucky he left." She acknowledged Torchwick's gaze moving towards them, they'd have to make a quick exit.

It was Sun's response however, that stopped her.

"Just warning you now. You're going to be mad at me the moment you find out _why_ he left. Because I'm pretty sure I've got the general idea, and I'll begin by saying it was completely his idea." He held his hands up in mock surrender, and Blake's eyes narrowed toward him in question.

Then they narrowed in realisation and anger when Ichigo burst through the glass skylight in the warehouse, being pushed down by Kugo Ginjo.

* * *

Ichigo sat upon the roof of the warehouse, watching the recruitment going on within.

' _The plan's worked so far'_

' **As long as you don't release any Reiatsu we'll be fine. This'll make a good lesson for ya anyway'** Zangetsu responded, keeping his own hold on the immense spirit energy to keep the Fullbringer from being alerted by its presence.

Ichigo was confused by the comment about it being a lesson, but chose to file it away with half of the other crap the Hollow said.

Follow Sun and make sure nothing went wrong on Team RWBY's mission. That was the plan. Ichigo just wanted this to be over and done with so stuff could return to normal. So he didn't have to see his friends lie to him or look so hurt.

The rational part of his brain told him there was no way this would be the end of it, not with Ginjo still out there along with Torchwick and whoever else they were involved with, but Ichigo ignored it until he noticed the man's presence in the warehouse.

Any thought of a return to normality was cut off after that, but the teen kept his position, watching from the roof with a vice grip on his Reiatsu.

That changed the moment he saw Ginjo notice his friends' presence, when fear faltered his grip on his Reiatsu and enough slipped through for the Fullbringer's eyes to snap to him.

A flash of light and Ichigo had a split second to block the blade with his own before glaring defiantly into the eyes of the Fullbringer.

Ichigo's eyes turned from anger to shock when the man swung his claymore upwards, breaking their stalemate before kicking the teen through the skylight and into the warehouse.

Crashing into the ground, Ichigo had only a moment's notice (being the flash of light) before being forced to roll to the side to avoid the claymore that buried itself into the ground next to him.

Rolling to his feet, Ichigo caught the gazes of Sun and Blake.

Sun had confidence in Ichigo's plan, but was forced to intervene when Blake drew Gambol Shroud, looking ready to join the fight against Ginjo. Sun saw a look of mixed emotion. Concern, anger and fear were all visible on his friend's face, but her joining Ichigo's fight wasn't part of the plan.

Sun grabbed her wrist, commanding "That's his fight to win on his own. Have a little faith, will ya? Besides, we've got bigger fish to fry." He gestured towards an irate looking Torchwick, glaring from the stage. Ginjo just had to go wandering off and come back in the middle of a fight, coincidentally also scaring off any Faunus that had yet to join up in the commotion.

Torchwick took it as a wordless signal that the other two teens were being left to him, rushing to enter the Paladin.

A gunshot rang out and the lights had cut, forcing Torchwick to yell at any remaining grunts "Stop them!" while he entered the mech, giving chase.

* * *

The blades met again, Ginjo overpowering Ichigo, swinging his blade and launching the teen back into (or through. Ginjo didn't realise he'd put that much strength into it) the opposite wall.

At the sound of a wall breaking on the opposite side of the warehouse, Ginjo sighed in annoyance "Great. Now she's gonna be on both of our asses because he decided to go for a joyride with the merchandise. Either way, let's get back to it, shall we?" He directed towards Ichigo, surprised when the teen burst out of the rubble and charged him again.

' _He's persistent at least'_ the Fullbringer thought to himself.

Ichigo swung his blade, and Ginjo met him with equal ferocity, the only sounds the clashing of blades and the only light being the moonlight that came through the skylight and the new holes in either wall, as well as the sparks born every time the blades met.

Ichigo charged again, the blades meeting before Ginjo deflected his blade. Ichigo swung again, not retreating, aiming for the Fullbringer's unguarded side. Zangetsu met the broad side of the claymore, once again the contest of strength won by Ginjo.

Ichigo wasn't done, refusing the Fullbringer any breathing room. When Zangetsu was deflected once more, he grabbed the blade in both hands and brought it down in an overhead strike, the words flying out of his mouth in rage "Getsuga Tensho!"

The Aura exploded outward, and Ichigo felt Ginjo pushed back, before his eyes widened in shock a moment later.

He could see Ginjo, the man once more clad in the bone like armour from the docks, but that wasn't what shocked him.

While the man showed slight signs of exertion, a few grazes visible on his face, the somewhat minimal injuries wasn't what shocked Ichigo.

What shocked Ichigo was the fact that the man's blade had encased itself in a bright emerald Aura, and that Ginjo had used said Aura and _redirected_ his Getsuga, the beam launching harmlessly into the ceiling, causing debris to fall as parts of the roof were destroyed by the attack.

"How-!" Ichigo didn't finish the shocked question as the man appeared before him, the claymore still encased in energy, before swinging his blade into Ichigo, the subsequent blast launching the teen further back.

"Hn. Credit to ya, at least. You managed to make me use the armour portion of my Fullbring, but this really is kinda disappointing compared to the docks, wouldn't you say?" Ginjo taunted, enjoying the surprise on the teen's face.

' _How has he gotten this much stronger since the docks?!'_

Ginjo could see the thoughts on the teen's face, and realised perhaps the teen had forgotten why he had managed to match Ginjo at the docks, continuing his taunt "You haven't even realised it, even though you probably knew at the time. I haven't gotten stronger since the docks. You just got weaker, disappointingly so." He finished with a scoff, annoyed he hadn't even gotten a somewhat entertaining fight out of it.

"How does it feel to not be strong enough to do anything? When all you've ever cared about is protecting others then what does it feel like to not even be strong enough to do that?" He could see it in Ichigo's eyes, the shock and anger. He could almost see it eating up the teen inside, hatred for his own weakness.

Though perhaps where Ginjo had expected the teen to respond in spoken anger, or perhaps realise his own weakness, what Ginjo certainly _did not_ expect was the blade that came flying at him.

Ginjo was forced to duck, swinging the Cross of Scaffold upwards to launch the blade, ridding it of the momentum that launched it, Ginjo turned, only to hear the sound of Shunpo and witness Ichigo catch the blade before bringing it down on his own.

The two fighters stood, their blades locked, before both tried to launch their individual attacks, resulting in a blast that launched both back, creating a small crater in the ground.

Ginjo took the teen's gradually showing fatigue as a chance to appear behind him, swinging his Fullbring, expecting it to meet Zangetsu once more.

A crash, and Ginjo had embedded his blade into the ground, with Ichigo appearing in a Shunpo behind him, before firing a Dust round into the Fullbringer's back, resulting in a fiery explosion.

Ginjo swung his blade outwards, the distorted air removing the dust cloud around him. Ichigo was nowhere to be seen.

"Is that all? A few scratches are all you can do? You lack the skill but you don't lack the power. Come on! Stop hiding like a coward Ichigo!" He taunted, annoyed the teen thought he could hide.

"It's not like it matters anyway, you may as well just save yourself the suffering and show yourself. Or are you going to die on your knees like a coward? I'd say you don't deserve as much but at the moment I'm conflicted between your current display and what I'm used to." Ginjo took the opportunity to talk, possibly distracting the teen with words alluding to his past. In the meantime Ginjo extended his senses, searching for the blinding Reiatsu that was no doubt within range of his senses.

Then he sensed _it._

"I'm not running." Ichigo stated, though the quiet statement was overpowered by the roaring Reiatsu surrounding him. Ichigo knew he was taking a risk putting this much energy into an attack, but otherwise he was getting nowhere. He refused to believe Ginjo was unbeatable, just that he was one tough douchebag.

Ginjo turned, and Ichigo reacted. Both hands grasping Zangetsu's hilt were brought down in an overhead strike, the burning Reiatsu following it in a beam of light that tore through the remaining roof of the building, soaring towards the Fullbringer.

An explosion ensued. And then silence prevailed.

Ichigo staggered, but wouldn't fall. He refused to until he knew this fight was over.

The silence was broken by laughter. All out, unrestrained laughter filled the air. Ichigo's eyes widened.

Amongst the scattered wreckage, a form appeared and Ginjo stood tall though not unscathed. He was unaffected by the small amount of blood dripping from his forehead or the tears that appeared through his armour, slightly exposing flesh. It seemed the attack had done more visible damage than Ichigo had managed the entire fight, but the man still retained a decent amount of Aura to protect himself, which was more than Ichigo could say for himself.

Ginjo finally managed to control his laughter, stifling a few chuckles before he began to speak "Now that's more like it! You actually managed to do something to me. But it looks like you're all worn out." Ginjo didn't want an easy fight; he wanted to win knowing he had destroyed the Ichigo Kurosaki that had fought in the winter and Thousand Year Blood wars, not the child in front of him.

Ichigo couldn't register what had happened. He had forced his entire remaining Aura into that attack (a sizeable amount considering his large reserves, although reduced by the hits he had taken during the fight and the Aura released in attacks) and it hadn't beaten Ginjo.

' _I'm still not-?'_ his thoughts were interrupted.

Ginjo attacked again, appearing in a flash of Bringer Light and bringing his blade towards Ichigo's side.

Ichigo reacted, bringing Zangetsu up to block.

A chunk of metal fell to the ground, accompanied by dripping blood.

Ichigo collapsed to one knee, his free hand over the new wound on his side, blood pouring freely. His eyes fell on the chunk of metal on the ground, identifiable as the end of Zangetsu's blade.

' _He – He broke Zangetsu's blade? How?'_

"Hm." The sound alerted Ichigo, but before he could face the sound Ginjo appeared, forcibly lifting his head to face the man. "That took everything you had, and that just isn't good enough. Maybe you don't understand me, and I don't care if you do or don't, but I refuse to kill you while you're so pathetic." Ginjo stated, somewhat relishing the newfound fear in the boy's eyes.

"Why bother? If you hate me so much why not just kill me and be done with it?" Ichigo forced out, calling on any of his remaining confidence to glare defiantly at Ginjo.

"Why indeed?" Ginjo responded, dropping Ichigo's head, though the teen's eyes never left him.

"It's probably because I'm a bit nostalgic, I'd guess. I refuse to kill you until we're both on the same level. In my eyes it seems a bit cheap to cut down somebody you hate and for it to be easy. I guess I want to earn my victory, but that can't happen unless you get stronger." Ginjo punctuated the end of his statement by placing the end of his blade against Ichigo's chest, watching a small stream of blood trickle out from the tip of the blade.

"I'm gonna make this simple, Ichigo. My employer is going to want you dead the moment they find out about you; I have no doubt about that. So you have until then to be strong enough to face me." Ginjo stated, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. His employer wasn't very fond of reincarnates, simple as that.

"And if I don't?" Ichigo responded begrudgingly, seeing there was no way he could win in this situation. Not with Zangetsu in two pieces.

"I thought the 'my employer is going to want you dead' part made it pretty obvious." Ginjo deadpanned.

"I don't know, I guess I thought there'd be more to it than that. You're the one that said you played the clichéd villain." Ichigo questioned in response, though all comedic responses stopped when the blade once more appeared against Ichigo's chest, the teen meeting the eyes of the Fullbringer.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'd try and be nicer and give you a confirmed date but I try to put off talking to my employer as much as possible anyway. So at least count that in your favour as a while to get stronger. Don't disappoint and try not to die until then." Ginjo finished, vanishing in another burst of Bringer Light.

He knew he was too sparing with the kid, but every time they fought the kid seemed more like Ichigo Kurosaki than the last, and Ginjo figured if given enough time he might remember, and that would make Ginjo's victory all the sweeter.

The wreckage of the warehouse was silent after that. Ichigo bandaged his wounds with the wrapping from Zangetsu before picking up the remains of his blade, the two chunks wrapping in the cloth, and heading back towards Beacon.

* * *

Ichigo opened the dorm room door with an audible 'click', entering the room.

The entire journey back to Beacon had been silent, even Zangetsu hadn't spoken since the warehouse. It seemed the universe had somewhat smiled in his favour when he had gotten a later airship than Team RWBY, avoiding any confrontations.

Then the universe took a total shit on him again when he remembered they'd still know he was there, messages from Sun confirming they knew, though worries were quelled when he'd replied confirming that he hadn't died, promising more details later on.

He ignored the lights turning on in the room, and the stares from all four of his teammates upon entering, though the stares turned to concern when they realised his injured state.

"Ichigo? What happened?" Jaune questioned, panicked by the bloodied bandages on the teen. Under request from Ren the four teens had stayed up in wait for their friend, but Jaune didn't expect something like this.

Jaune was ignored in favour of Ichigo walking into the bathroom and returning with a first aid kit to treat his wounds.

The five once more sat in silence while Ichigo treated his wounds, with various offers to help him, which Ichigo took the hint on being demands and not requests, until his wounds were properly treated and bandaged.

"Well?" Ren questioned in his usual stoic tone. Ichigo knew him better. He could see anger in his friend's eyes, coupled with sadness.

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He'd gone through all of that against Ginjo while trying to help Team RWBY and not once did he think to involve his own team. The same way Team RWBY had tried to keep him out of it.

When in certain situations Ichigo knew it was easiest to divert to being blunt, so he did, responding "I fucked up, okay? I fucked up _badly_. I thought I could be strong enough to beat him and I thought he was my responsibility to take on alone." He had ignored rational thought at all possible turns, between warnings from Ozpin and Zangetsu, and offers to help from his own team.

"You're right. You did mess up. But what matters is learning from your mistakes and being better for them. It's kinda like learning how many pancakes you can eat before you throw up. We're all here and we're still a team, no matter what. Remember that next time you go and almost get yourself killed, dummy." Nora responded, surprising Ichigo. Nora was always the jokey, humorous one when things got rough, but she was still one of his oldest friends alongside Ren and he hadn't missed the same emotions as Ren showing in her.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. Minus the pancakes part though." Pyrrha added, the teens chuckling at the response, before Ichigo looked down sombrely.

"I won't fail again. I promise." He was promising himself and his friends. That he wouldn't abandon them again, and that he refused to lose.

' **Well I guess that's a good way to wrap up that lesson, dumbass'** Zangetsu's voice piped up from within his mind.

' _Where have you been all this time? I could've used the help'_

' **That's the issue. I warned ya you wouldn't win against him'**

' _When?'_

' **Okay, I planned to warn ya, but then I remembered how stubborn you are and chose not to waste the energy. But at least Glasses'n'Cane did, and you completely ignored him'**

' _Okay, ignoring that. Completely different thought; what lesson?'_

' **The one where I see if you're in as much need of more power and training as I originally thought. Good news, kinda, you passed!'**

' _Okay, can we disband the crazy club so you can start making sense again?'_

' **Fine. In dumbass speak: you're hoping to fight somebody who's a lot stronger than you, especially considering he's not using full power. I'm gonna teach ya to even the playing field. Hopefully, it's a fifty-fifty chance whether or not he'll still be able to beat ya into the dirt afterwards'**

' _So now I've got to worry about an angry Blake; who didn't want me to help them in case I fought Ginjo again, which I did. I've also got to worry about any future trouble and remember I've got a team behind me, and I've got to worry about the rest of Team RWBY wondering how I knew about what they were planning in the first place. That's before I even consider the fact you've just said the training you had me doing before was you going easy on me. To summarise, I'm pretty sure I don't have long left to live'_

' **And the fact Ren asked you to join your team for that synchronised dance at that dance coming up'** Zangetsu responded, ignoring his wielder's fears of imminent death. The Hollow couldn't blame him, the kiddie gloves were coming off in regards to the amateur's training that was for sure.

Looking across the room, Ichigo glared at Ren, the stoic teen guessing what his friend was about to say "But it's a team activity that should be done as a team." He reasoned.

"I don't dance; no exceptions." Ichigo responded, scowl firmly plastered on his face.

The rest of his team sighed, this argument would repeat the same way it had the last week, and Jaune seemed to be the only one who remembered Ichigo originally responded that he didn't want to go to the dance in the first place.

Things had once more balanced out into the usual back and forth between insanity and normality, and it seemed the teens would face it either way.

* * *

 **AN ABOUT HOW I'M NOT SURE THIS CHAPTER IS GOOD.**

 **^ So I'd originally left that as a starter for when I wrote the actual AN immediately prior to publishing (the same AN I'm writing now) but it seems easier to leave it there as a point. Though at this point all my fears seem to be unfounded when you guys give so much support to all the stuff I write, so thank you all.**

 **So we've got more stuff linking events together, with Ichigo's stubborn nature somewhat kicking in meaning he ignored that his team would back him.**

 **Along with that we got more events I've used to somewhat link events in RWBY together. Because I'm not the only one that questioned why Sun and Neptune were conveniently outside RWBY's dorm room at just the right time to hear and be involved in their plans, right?**

 **I watch too much CinemaSins, Okay?**

 **Anyway, other than that, I'd like to say sorry to everyone who thought Ichigo would be involved in the mech fight, sorry. Once again it's another fight I would've involved Ichigo in if I could without messing up a great fight from RWBY, so instead it allowed me to set up events to flesh out Ginjo in the story and cement Ichigo's desire to get stronger.**

 **Jeez, usually I feel like I can write for ages in these AN's, guess I'm not up for thought ranting today, anyway: Reviews!**

 **Kestes:**

Oh mate. GCSE. Not gonna lie to you but.. they're nowhere near the worst that this education system'll throw at you. Enjoy em whilst they last, do enough to get into the colleges (if you wanna go that route) and just do your best :)

Another fantastic chappy btw. Loving the Ichigo-Zangetsu dynamic! There's some really funny shit in there haha :)

Cheers,  
Kes

 **Well thanks for the education support I guess XD Nice to see people enjoying what I've done with Ichi and Zanny, it's a good place to voice my sense of humour (or for a certain section in this chapter, MCBOSSWAFFLES' sense of humour (no joking, I actually stopped writing for that day so I could get some horrific puns from him to use)).**

 **Guest:**

My dude this is still one of the best RWBY crossovers I have seen. I think your writing is fantastic. Please please please keep this story up for as long as possible and don't quit or suspend it until the story is completely done.

The characters are as close as they could be to the show and Ichigo isn't some Gary Stue like in many other fics. Keep the great work up.

Your friendly neighbourhood Carnage-Man

 **Once more I wonder what I've written to gain such support or positivity, but thank you from the bottom of my heart. There are thousands of much better writers on this site than me and you're choosing to come here, read my shit and say it's good, and there's nothing better for an author. I'll do my best to keep this coming out and I refuse to stop this story because I've got so much in my head I want to write in the future, no matter how long it takes.**

 **As for character portrayal, I've done my best and I'm happy to see people have enjoyed it. In regards to a Gary Stue Ichigo I think it's because I've focussed so much on trying to distinguish him from his previous incarnation that I've shown his fair of character flaws along the way, much of them being the same as they were originally.**

 **Goddammit I love you guys, thank you for all the support this story has gotten and as long as you can wait patiently for updates I can promise I'll do my best to make them worth the wait :D**

 **Reviews are more appreciated than anything. Criticism keeps me going.**


	20. Stronger

**Well, I'm starting to write this chapter a few days after the first chapter of volume 2 was put up, and I'm glad to see the response it received.**

 **Only now am I realising how confusing the timing of ANs are, seeing as the ANs at the start of chapters are usually written when I start writing the chapter whereas the ANs at the end are written shortly before publishing.**

 **Don't worry, I've confused myself too. You are completely normal.**

 **Anyway, I think bits of this chapter may be skippy and such, I'm not sure. RWBY was always good at unexplainedly skipping periods of time.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpieces I portray; both are owned by Tite Kubo and Rooster Teeth respectively**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Chapter 4: Stronger**

* * *

Ichigo slept, unresponsive to the world around him. Sleep was like an empty void, holding no responsibilities or requirements. He was free to sleep peacefully.

Or he would have usually, but instead Zangetsu chose to have him sleep and recover while they trained within his inner world.

Suffice to say, Ichigo _was not_ happy with that by the end of it.

"Ugh!" Ichigo groaned from his new spot in a crater on the tower, glaring down at the cause of his sudden relocation.

It had been going on all night, and Ichigo couldn't tell how long it was until he'd have to be up, but he knew it was soon, though he had more current issues to deal with.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! You said you'd be training me but all you've done is thrown me around like a ragdoll for hours on end!" He yelled infuriatedly at Zangetsu, angered at his lack of progress or any seriousness from the part of the Hollow.

" **Gehehe"** Zangetsu chuckled, responding **"New record! That crater's gotta be a few inches deeper than the last, right?"**

The lack of appropriate response only served to piss Ichigo off.

A flash and he was before Zangetsu, blade being swung towards the Hollow's head from above.

" **You think that'll do anything?"** Zangetsu whispered, audible enough for Ichigo to hear.

Ichigo's eyes widened and he moved his head to the side, the inversed Khyber knife of the Hollow flying through the space his head previously occupied. That didn't bother him though, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through him.

The Hollow's attack dodged, and there was nothing to stop his blade cutting into Zangetsu. Ichigo grinned victoriously; this had to make him take training seriously, right?

Then the blade tore through the inversed Shihakusho of the Hollow, and _sparks_ were created as the blade grinded against his skin.

Ichigo backed away. He didn't know why, but he did.

An expected reaction from Zangetsu, however, didn't come. The Hollow didn't laugh, he just grinned.

" **Well ya managed one point of what I'm tryin to teach ya, but you completely missed the second one."** Zangetsu stated. The Old Man had a better knack for teaching, but that didn't mean Zangetsu couldn't learn from his counterpart.

"Now you're acting like you're teaching me something after you've ignored taking the fight seriously this entire time?!" Ichigo responded, a vein popping in his forehead showing his annoyance.

" **You say I ain't teachin ya anything, but that's just because you ain't looking hard enough. When we started I was 'throwing you around like a ragdoll' as you so aptly put it. You don't even realise how much it was like your fight against Ginjo, do you?"** At this point it felt like Zangetsu was helping the kid read a self-help book and he wasn't sure whether it was just annoying or not that two lifetimes in a row Ichigo didn't understand it.

"The only thing this has to do with Ginjo is helping me get stronger so I can win next time." Ichigo responded, angered that he once more couldn't defeat the man.

" **You're missing the point. I said this has to do with your** _ **fight**_ **, not the bastard himself. Think back on what he said to you."** Zangetsu didn't like playing on his wielder's emotions, but the kid was close enough to figuring it out.

Ichigo didn't respond but the angered gaze he held, not directed at Zangetsu, told the Zanpakuto all he needed.

" **He made you angry, and that awoke something inside you that'll make you a force to be reckoned with if ya learn to control it right. It's the first step to what I'm teaching you."** Zangetsu stated, watching realisation dawn in his wielder's eyes.

At least he didn't have to say it out loud, when Ichigo responded a single word.

"Instinct"

Then the alarm bell started ringing.

* * *

' _That was one loud fucking alarm clock'_ was the only thought that entered Ichigo's mind while remaining somewhat coherent (the rest being nonsensical strings of cursing). Naturally his brain took too long on such strings of incoherent swearing that he didn't acknowledge the fast approaching ground, instead his only acknowledgement being the grunt of pain upon impact with said floorboard.

"See, I told you! It only took me like, nine attempts!" Nora grinned victoriously at her team, seeing her genius finally work out in creating a solution to awaken the other orange haired individual on their team.

"As well as all the other days you spent experimenting last semester" Ren bluntly inputted, hoping to burst Nora's bubble before her so called genius started creating more inventive ways to get any task done. Really all they did by telling her to scientifically find a way to wake Ichigo was find a way to focus her insanity onto a simple subject to allow them time to awaken in the mornings.

Yes, it did seem unfair to land such a fate upon Ichigo, but empathy was lost when Ren remembered the tallies scribbled onto the walls of their old home.

See, normally parents would have little scores on a wall or something to show their children growing, but in the Kurosaki household (while Ichigo may have had it before Ren and Nora arrived) they instead had the knockout counter. Or in which they kept count of how many times Ichigo slugged somebody upon awakening.

Needless to say, Ren stopped feeling empathetic about waking Ichigo up after knockout number seventy-three.

"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first" Nora replied smugly. How dare Ren question her intellect and cunning and… she needed some other long words that said she was smart.

"Ren forgot to also mention weekends" Pyrrha added, long since learning to fear what may occur if somebody sided with insanity (Yang and Nora team-ups were only allowed if all members of both teams were in the vicinity to stop (or bail out) their teammates).

"Don't forget the entire two week break we had between semesters. Sorry Nora, it's all versus you." Jaune added, grinning sheepishly. He wasn't afraid of negative backlash, but he decided to give his input before he was pressured to playing tiebreaker.

"Hmph. Party poopers" Nora pouted. They didn't understand her true genius, and one day she would make them pay in a rain of pancakes and syrup and –

"Yep, I'm fine. No need to be concerned. Not like I fell on my goddamn face or anything." Nora's plans of world domination (not breakfast. Totally not breakfast) went interrupted by the return of Ichigo, who'd seemed to take the opportunity of his friends' regular morning banter as a chance to remove himself from the floor before readying himself for the day.

"If you can survive facing off with someone like Ginjo not once, but twice, then I don't think we have to worry about you falling out of bed in the morning." Ren deadpanned in response. He meant it as a joke as opposed to a jab for the events of the previous night. If anything he was glad Ichigo had returned alive, much like the rest of his team.

' **I'd call that sound logic'**

' _You'd call it sound logic to jump off a cliff to get a chance to stab gravity'_

' **Yes. Yes I would. That guy's an asshole'**

"Touché" Ichigo responded, moving towards more serious agendas on the morning "So Mr. 'Natural Born Leader', what's on the agenda today?" he joked.

' **Meh, Blondie brought it on himself'**

"Port's lectures" Jaune droned out, and Ichigo realised as soon as his leader started speaking why it wasn't to retort to his joke. All jokes and humour _died_ in the moustached face of Professor Port. The man could lecture _Death_ to death.

"Great, that's just wonderful. Well who's up for a march to death by boredom?" Ichigo droned. His tone, much like Jaune's in his previous statement, had practically begun seething with boredom from the sheer mention of Port's classes.

' **We could always be training'** Zangetsu mocked in a sing-song tone, not expecting Ichigo's response.

' _So my options are death by boredom or extreme physical abuse from a Hollow in the name of getting stronger? Fuck it, we're training.'_

' **And you say the Hyper-Crazy-Lady only affects me. I think she's giving you her training ethic'**

' _Well would you want to sit around and listen to Port for an entire hour?'_ Ichigo responded, making to exit the room alongside his team. He'd probably been too zoned out in his ongoing conversation with Zangetsu to hear them say it was time to go (undoubtedly it would've been said begrudgingly).

' **Nope, I would definitely not. Much less so would I want to step into the situation you're walking into without realising it. Consider this revenge for letting my blade get broken ya jackass'** Zangetsu cut himself off after it, and it only took a moment too long for Ichigo to realise what he meant.

As his team left the comfort (and as Ichigo would currently be saying, _safety_ ) of their room to enter the hallway (with very minimal exits), they ran into the one, single, thing in the universe that Ichigo had forgotten he should've been trying to avoid right now.

His team had exited their dorm at the same time as Team RWBY, because they had the same class.

Ichigo facepalmed and could hear Zangetsu practically rolling with laughter at his situation.

"Hey Ruby, you guys ready for class?" Jaune's usually cheerful greeting dulled by the end of the statement, trepidation filling his statement. Though if trepidation meant the fear of something happening, then what Jaune was feeling would've been the opposite of trepidation, instead being the fear that the usual _complete and utter nothing_ that happened in Port's lessons should befall them once more.

"Morning Jaune. We're pretty good –." Ruby's response was cut off by a yawn "Though maybe a little short on sleep"

While Ichigo expected (possibly hoped, so he could slip away unnoticed) the friendly morning banter to continue, he didn't expect the rude continuation of the statement from Blake "But you guys probably already know all about that, wouldn't you?" she stated. Her gaze lingered towards where Ichigo's hand was, over where the already healed wound from the previous night would've been, before she turned and continued down the hallway.

"Ouch." Nora responded, seeing some need for humour (possibly before or after her friend got torn into).

"Oh! It'd almost slipped my mind! Are you okay, Ichigo?" Ruby questioned, Blake's departing words reminding her what her team had been told by Sun the previous night.

' _Eh?'_

' **Eh?'**

"Eh?" Thought alone didn't seem to cover Ichigo's bafflement over the concern on him. Frankly he expected yelling (or everyone else to seem as mad as Blake had).

"Okay, so Sun didn't mention brain damage. Is that an overnight development or did Nora do it?" Yang questioned jokingly.

Nora once more pouted, responding "Nobody appreciates true genius. I mean seriously, is it national 'Be mean to geniuses day' or something?" to which the remaining teens chuckled.

The humour seemed to be enough to alert Ichigo from his confused stupor, the orange haired teen responding "Well not being dead is a first, I guess. I'm fine and only got off with a couple of wounds, nothing to worry about."

"Well I'm pretty sure we can tell you aren't dead, otherwise Blake probably would've gone off and killed Sun for calling you to help in the first place" Yang joked, though the joke only served to confuse Ichigo.

' _The hell's she talking about? Sun didn't call me in'_

' **News flash to dumbass, I'd make the wild guess that monkey-boy covered for ya'**

"I still don't quite understand why you didn't call for our help originally. Wouldn't it have gone smoother if more of us were present when the fighting broke out?" Pyrrha questioned, not fully understanding the details of what Team RWBY had been doing before everything went to hell.

"That was what I said!" Weiss responded, indignant that even others agreed more backup would've been a good idea.

' **Duh, Ice Queen. Logical thought was shot in the face in favour of stupidity and recklessness! Even the amateur understands that now!'**

' _News flash, she can't hear you'_

' **Well if I think it loud enough she might get the fucking point'**

' _With you, the only thing 'the point' ever ends up being is the tip of a Khyber knife'_

' **You were more fun when you were a stuttering bitch who couldn't figure out how to respond to anything'**

"It was because we didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt. This is twice now somebody almost died because we went up against someone like Ginjo." Ruby justified in response to the silence left by the unanswered question.

Unfortunately for Ruby, more silence followed her statement.

Ichigo spoke up "So you guys risked getting in more danger just because of what's happened every time I've fought Ginjo?" his earlier anger at their attempts to 'protect' him was flaring up again.

"Well can you blame us? Every time you've fought that psychopath you've ended up physically injured. That means he's strong enough to be able to break through Aura as powerful as yours in as little time as he has before. Who knows what will happen if you fight him again?" Weiss responded. She wasn't speaking out in anger or against Ichigo, but she at least knew the fear the rest of her friends had felt when Ichigo had nearly died the first time, whether she didn't get along as well with Ichigo as others or not.

"What'll happen if I fight him again?" Ichigo responded to the rhetorical question, his eyes reflecting frustration and anger at his earlier losses "I won't lose, that's what."

They could see the determined look in Ichigo's eyes. That look that made them want to believe him, though before they could speak out against what seemed to be him seeking to fight the man that had almost killed him twice once more he spoke again "We should get going, now. I'm pretty sure class started a few minutes ago."

That seemed to be the kick-in-the-face of a reminder the teens needed, each of them running to get to class in a panic. If people thought Port gave long lectures, he gave even longer ones to students in detention (and you had to listen to all of it before he let you leave).

Ichigo only hoped Blake might ease up enough to actually talk to him about all the stuff that had been going on.

* * *

It had been two weeks.

 _Two weeks._

Ichigo had only managed to get glares or dismissal from Blake. What had, after the docks, been conversations to divert from the topic he was trying to approach, was now Blake outright ignoring him. Though Sun had only just gotten better, at least Blake would actually _speak_ to him.

Naturally, that built up some kind of frustration inside Ichigo.

And what was his personal favourite way to get rid of frustration?

That must've been getting the shit beaten out of him, courtesy of Zangetsu.

At the very least his sarcasm had been improving.

' _Trust my instincts'_ Ichigo thought, remembering his previous lessons with Zangetsu.

Zangetsu had recently been _training_ Ichigo to better his… well, if he was completely honest, he had all areas to improve upon. That was a fact which Zangetsu didn't fail to abuse.

"Gah!" Ichigo grunted in the pain that coursed through his body, the source of the searing pain being the Cero that had just collided with his unguarded back.

" **Again"** Zangetsu commanded, beckoning Ichigo to stand.

"Yeah I get it, just give me a second" Ichigo responded, mildly irate at the behaviour of his Zanpakuto in recent training situations. Granted his experiences allowed him to grasp instinct far faster than he had in his previous life, his growth rate in regards to strength was dull in comparison.

Ichigo might have been growing stronger at a regular rate for somebody training whenever possible, but in Zangetsu's eyes that still _wasn't fast enough_. He took Ginjo's threat seriously and, as he was now, Ichigo had no chance of winning, not against the threat of Bankai.

Ichigo ignored the silence left after his statement, regaining his breath. That silence was broken by the blade the found itself against his throat.

" **When he gets the chance to, you'll be dead. You won't get a second to catch your breath in that fight. I might've been sparing so far but until you understand the second lesson I won't be anymore."** Zangetsu stated, his double toned voice accompanying the weighted breaths from Ichigo. This wasn't as easy as simply telling him the answer, those days were long gone.

He would learn it himself or when the time came he would die.

* * *

Ichigo jolted forward with a start, barely stopping himself from jumping forward out of his seat.

His first response was surprise, so much so that it took him a minute to realise he was sitting in combat class. He was, along with the other students currently not participating in a match, seated in a viewing area to the side of the room, out of the way of any potential gunfire (or flying combatants).

The room was beige brown for the most part, with grey pillars around the corners of the circular room. The only other eye catching feature of the room was the large screen mounted to the wall off to the side that would usually display combatants and gauge their Aura.

However, it was Ichigo's next realisation that surprised him.

He couldn't move his body. He tried to talk but no movement was made and no sound released.

' _Zangetsu what the hell are you doing?!'_ it had to be the Zanpakuto. Nothing else could have that kind of control over his body.

' **Teaching you a lesson where your opponent won't go easy on you'** Zangetsu responded. Ichigo seemed to expect lenience from Zangetsu whenever training got too tough, so he would pit Ichigo against somebody who wouldn't hold back.

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" Professor Goodwitch's voice rang out, reminding Ichigo he was still seated in combat class.

Apparently it also reminded Zangetsu, the Hollow cursing **'Shit we missed watching the Redhead deck the dumbass squadron!'** although it didn't seem to distract the Hollow from his hold over Ichigo's body.

"Miss Belladonna? You've been rather docile for the past few classes" Goodwitch suggested, seeing no volunteers present themselves. It seemed whether in normal school or school for defenders of the world teenagers still seemed to ignore the idea of proactivity sometimes.

Ichigo could see Blake's surprise at being called out in his peripheral vision as she placed down the book she held.

"Why don't you -." Goodwitch continued.

That was when Ichigo's body started moving of its own accord.

"I'm game. So who am I gonna get to fight?" Ichigo found his own voice calling out, despite his own efforts against it. His head turned slightly of its own accord once more and Ichigo could see a grey haired teen out of the corner of his eye who looked like he was also about to raise his hand. What was his name again?

Venus or Mars or something like that, Ichigo knew it was something along those lines.

"Finally taking a break from daydreaming in class then, Ichigo? Very well, then let's find you a sparring partner" Goodwitch responded, interrupting Ichigo's thoughts and returning him to the struggle of trying to regain control of his body.

Once more Ichigo's head tilted upwards, facing towards the screen that would momentarily switch to show whoever Zangetsu seemed to want to pit him against. Then his brain kicked in and he realised the Hollow wasn't planning on leaving his opponent up to chance, and the board currently displayed the combatants of the last match.

Cardin's dumbass platoon, all with Aura depleted enough to show them as defeated but tournament rules.

And their opponent, with her image displayed on the other side of the board, coupled with a slightly depleted (probably less than a quarter) Aura meter.

' _I fucking hate you'_

"I get that she just fought but she's hardly down by much Aura, though I guess it's up to her. How about it, Pyrrha?" His voice escaped his lips once more.

The sadistic bastard was making him fight the toughest student in their year (if not their school, he hadn't met many higher year students to compare to). His only hope now would be that she'd decline graciously seeing as she'd just participated. Pyrrha was always the kind, thoughtful one; she would want to let other people participate in sparring matches, right?

"Aura count not withstanding Miss Nikos has just participated in a match and it would be fairer to allow other students a chance to participate, Ichigo" Goodwitch to the fucking rescue on that one. Maybe he wasn't going to get pulverised than anyone other than the Hollow.

' **I can't believe my undead ears! Ichigo Kurosaki bitching out of a fight?'**

' _Don't fall for it. He's taunting you into it like he has been for the past two weeks. Don't fall for it. You want to finish classes, eat something and then get a night of sleep where you aren't interrupted by a sadistic Hollow hell bent on teaching you an impossible lesson'_

' **Oh he's said it now. If he can't do it then clearly it's impossible!'**

' _Shut up, will you! Just because I'm choosing not to fight once doesn't mean anything. This is about me getting stronger so I can fight Ginjo. It's not about you taunting me into picking fights at every turn just for your amusement!'_

' **For the record, it's called positive encouragement. Jeez you're a dumbass sometimes. You don't realise I'm taunting you because making you angry makes you impulsive, and it's easier to make you do something impulsively than explain** _ **why**_ **you should do something every time'**

' _Eh?'_

' **You wanna be stronger? Then fight stronger opponents. Look! There's one standing in front of you waiting for you to go fight, dipshit!'**

Okay, maybe Ichigo hadn't thought about it that way.

Though before he could think about how to react to the Hollow's actions and his own misinterpretations of them he realised he'd been so lost in thought that he didn't notice himself walking down into the combat arena (newly repaired Zangetsu strapped to his back, thank the lord the blade could be repaired with Aura) and standing opposite Pyrrha, prepared to fight after she accepted his challenge.

' _Wait… what?'_

"Begin when you are ready" Goodwitch stated from her viewpoint at the edge of the arena (hopefully safe from any energy beams she didn't doubt would be flung around).

' **You… completely didn't realise anything that was going on while we were talking, did you?'**

' _I can't tell if this is a happy accident or you completely set me up for this'_

' **I thought we'd agreed fighting the Redhead would be beneficial!'**

' _Thinking it'd be beneficial and actually fighting are two different things entirely!'_

' **Well then stop talking to me and focus, dumbass. Fight's about to start, or are you now denying you have instincts made for battle?'**

"Knowing about them and being able to use them are two completely different things" Ichigo muttered, knowing there were no chances to back out anymore. At this point he'd given up wanting to. Actions leading up to it didn't matter, he'd get to fight now and the fight was the only thing he needed to focus on.

* * *

An air of suspense built in the arena. Pure anticipation to (most likely) watch the strongest fighter among the first years beat another opponent. Pyrrha looked at Ichigo, possibly expecting some friendly bantering or joking before the fight began. She found none of it.

What she saw in those eyes were fierce brown eyes full of willpower and desire for victory. She understood that feeling. For her it was much the same when she found an obstacle others found too difficult to defeat. It was a desire to win no matter what, and that one look told her Ichigo wouldn't be holding back.

She gave a nod of acknowledgement to that, and Ichigo returned it. The silent agreement had been passed, neither of the fighters would be holding back.

Only a few more seconds of silence passed before the buzz of Shunpo and Pyrrha was forced to dodge to the side as Ichigo came down with enough force to crack the floor of the arena with Zangetsu.

Pyrrha took the opening to fire her weapon at him in rifle form to see how he would respond. Ichigo was like any other fighter, figure out how they fought and you'd know the exact openings they left in their form.

Ichigo reacted immediately, bringing the broad side of Zangetsu up to block the bullets and Pyrrha charged him. A blast rang out and Pyrrha had to bring up her shield to block the explosion of fire Dust. She realised that Ichigo had brought up Zangetsu in his left hand, leaving his right free to draw Midnight and fire freely at her before she could take advantage of an opening.

Ichigo was fast, but Pyrrha had trained to be as good as she was, and as such she managed to block the strike Ichigo brought down on her. Ichigo was fast, but trained fighters knew well enough to figure out how he would attack. In her own experiences training with Ichigo he always fought similar to a berserker style, much like Yang or Nora. That fighting style always involved heavy strikes against any available point, instead of focussing on weaker points like Blake's or Weiss' style.

When Zangetsu was rebuked by her shield, she jabbed towards his gut with her spear, the weapon clashing against his Aura, showing the damage he'd taken on the display.

Pyrrha knew a style like Ichigo's would respond with a heavy strike while she was still close to invoke as much damage as possible, so she made to dodge backwards immediately after getting in a couple of unguarded strikes before Ichigo could respond.

Her prediction came true as the Khyber knife replaced the space she'd once occupied, and if she'd been a second slower she wouldn't have dodged the same blade _flying_ at her as if it'd been thrown. The blade rebounded uselessly off the wall and Pyrrha realised her opponent had left himself without his primary weapon.

Ichigo used her surprise to charge her before once more moving into the air above her with Shunpo when she tried to knock him back from a distance with the full length of her spear. Clearly he wasn't going to let this fight turn into a game of keep-away.

Pyrrha turned, preparing to strike the area he would land without a moment's hesitation. That was when she noticed the bandage. Ichigo held one of the bandages that wrapped around Zangetsu's hilt in his hand, and as he landed he brought the bandage around to swing in a wide arc, and the blade responded.

Pyrrha ducked and let the blade sail over her and Ichigo charged with Midnight's blade extended. When Pyrrha raised her head and saw the blade come into view Ichigo knew exactly what had happened that had caused the blade to sail over her head. Pyrrha had used her Semblance to divert the strike and followed up by swiping his legs out from under him.

Ichigo once more brought Zangetsu to him using the bandages, the broad side of the blade redirecting Pyrrha's spear into the floor. A logical person would've tried to put distance between themselves and their enemy, especially seeing as Pyrrha could turn her spear into a sword for close range, making her an incredibly effective fighter at most ranges. Ichigo wasn't a very logical person; he was more of an _instinctual_ one, per se.

A flash of Shunpo and he was on his feet again, Zangetsu clashing against Pyrrha's hastily brought up shield. Ichigo didn't let up on his strikes, allowing no room for recovery between strikes. Pyrrha's style relied on her skill combined with her ability to subtly control her enemies' weapons, diverting strikes that could prove deadly. That style didn't work on Ichigo; Zangetsu wasn't made of any seemingly normal metal as far as he understood.

Pyrrha managed to recover enough to lash out instinctively against Ichigo's continual strikes, and Ichigo was forced to halt his attacks when Pyrrha introduced his face to the broad side of her shield… _multiple times._

Pyrrha followed up with a jab to the gut which quickly turned into a flurry of strikes. Ichigo charged in response, knowing she'd be forced on a defensive inside her spear's range. Ichigo brought Zangetsu up in a strike and Pyrrha met the blade in an overhead strike.

Ichigo reacted to break the clash, hastily coating Zangetsu in a Getsuga that launched Pyrrha back. Pyrrha used her shield (much like she had in her fight with Team CRDL) and launched herself back at Ichigo, catching him unawares enough for him to be forced back while Pyrrha caught her shield.

Looking at the Aura gauge, both of their Auras were sitting at around just over half and locking gazes once more both fighters readied themselves before charging.

Ichigo brought Zangetsu in an overhead strike, and Pyrrha brought her shield up to block at the last second, holding the sword back while she stabbed at Ichigo's open side with her spear, much like during the start of their fight. Pyrrha knew this could play out the same way, and she'd be able to play for time and whittle down his remaining Aura into the yellow to win the match.

It was then she realised Ichigo held her spear in a vice-like grip, refusing to let go. His Aura was hardly affected, only minimally dropping from his hand gripped around the blade.

Ichigo took initiative in Pyrrha's moment of surprise, bringing Zangetsu away from her shield and raising it with a single hand before naming his attack at point blank range.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The blast that ensued knocked both fighters back, breathing heavily from exertion and adrenaline.

Pyrrha's gaze faltered, then darted to the Aura gauge which still showed Ichigo's Aura at around a third, barely dipping into yellow while Pyrrha's sat just above. Ichigo realised she'd just won. Then her gaze darted back to Ichigo's hand, and Ichigo realised what had caused her apparent shock.

Two freshly bleeding cuts marked his hand where he'd held her spear, the metal seemingly cutting through his Aura, except he still had Aura left so he shouldn't have been injured.

' **So there is a drawback'** Zangetsu hummed from within his mind.

' _Drawback to what?'_

' **To your power. Getsuga Tensho requires focussing all of your Reia-Aura into the blade to attack. What happens to the Aura in your body when it's all focussed somewhere else?'**

The cuts made sense to Ichigo now. The drawback of Zangetsu's power was that it left him vulnerable when he was using it.

Though it seemed the moments Ichigo had taken to converse on his newly discovered Achilles' heel had been taken differently in Pyrrha's eyes along with Goodwitch's.

"This match is forfeit. All students please exit and head to your next class." Goodwitch said walking hurriedly into the arena. The other students responded as such, leaving the class (mostly disappointed they'd missed out on watching the end of that fight, even if tournament rules would decide that match as over). Members of both Teams RWBY and JNIPR were watching their teammates in concern as they left.

Mercury sighed to himself as he left. He'd wanted to fight the 'Invincible Girl' to make sure Ginjo wasn't bullshitting about her Semblance, though one particular part of the fight stuck out to him enough to prove the Fullbringer hadn't lied to them.

"Ichigo, are you alright? I'm so sorry!" Pyrrha apologised seeing the cuts on his hand, which admittedly were deeper than Ichigo first thought, apparently he hadn't truly acknowledged how strong his grip on the blade had been.

"It's fine, believe me it's more my fault than it is yours." Ichigo responded to his friend's worry. Pyrrha was one of the kindest among them, but also one that felt the guiltiest should something befall her friends because of her. Ichigo took the bandages from Zangetsu's blade and wrapped them around his hand. This wound didn't feel right, like his Aura _wouldn't_ heal it.

"Indeed, I would also insist that this isn't any fault of yours, Miss Nikos. As for you, Ichigo, I would ask what thoughts ran through your head when you actively disabled your Aura during a battle? Such an action in a real battle could and would cost you your life" Well… shit. Now Goodwitch was giving him a look like she actively expected to be answered, though at least she didn't seem to be paying any notice to his still unhealing hand.

' **Well sparring with me has helped with your sarcasm. Now for the next practise of social skills of the socially weird: bullshittery and lies!'** Zangetsu mocked within his mind, though Ichigo got the point.

"I… lost focus. I've been putting more time than has probably been good into training recently and I guess it all caught up with me at once." Ichigo answered, hoping she'd be satisfied.

Luckily for him, she did seem to be, responding "Well I would suggest against such actions. If this continues I may have no choice but to get the headmaster or higher members of faculty involved. You are both dismissed."

Ichigo considered himself the luckiest guy in the world she'd left it there instead of asking further questions, he really wasn't practised enough to pull out alibis on the spot.

* * *

"You lost focus in a sparring match. Sorry if I find that hard to believe but it's _you_ , Ichigo. There's undoubtedly more to it than that" Ren said, thoroughly unconvinced.

Ichigo had considered himself lucky for teachers not looking into things. His friends however, did look into things closer. "Why? You'd be the first to say I've been working too hard the past couple of weeks, why the change of mind now?"

"Because you acknowledged you've been spending too much time working" Ren responded bluntly.

Ichigo made a general confused gesture in response "And what the heck is that supposed to mean?"

The argument had started when Ichigo arrived back at the dorm room with a very apologetic Pyrrha, whom he kept having to assure it wasn't the fault of that he was injured.

Nora gave her input because Jaune and Pyrrha had left for training (They were scheduled for it and it would help keep Pyrrha's mind off it – and Jaune's, whom Ichigo had seen trying – and failing – to ask Weiss out). "He means that there's always a pattern you follow. If you get beaten you'll work yourself half to death until you come out on top, you're too stubborn to back down or acknowledge you're working too hard" Nora had a worried tone to her voice, like she was worried because of this as well.

Ichigo was about to retort but Ren cut him off "Losing focus would maybe cause a stray hit like that, yes. But Masaki trained all of us better than that, even when you had no Aura. You can't tell me this is more than you losing focus because it isn't. Your hand would've healed by now if it was." Ichigo knew how to read Ren better than others and made an educated guess he was angry because Ichigo had been distant ever since training with Zangetsu had started.

Zangetsu made a joke before about practising lying. Ichigo figured telling the truth would be easier (even if it was only a snippet of the truth, honestly he'd figured they'd be safer and less worried if they didn't know the entire truth).

"My hand isn't healing as a drawback from my power. I only figured that out when it happened while fighting Pyrrha. Getsuga Tensho focusses my entire Aura into Zangetsu and leaves me without any defence. I didn't mention it because I don't need you guys worrying about me in a fight." Ichigo stated, happy when their gazes somewhat softened when he admitted his weakness.

"So that's why Pyrrha managed to cut you before? Tell your weakness to go away; I wanted to see how that fight would've ended!" Nora responded, the less-sane part of her grinning at the idea of seeing who in their team was stronger.

Ichigo laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck "I hate to tell you Nora, but I'd still lose. Days of nonstop training won't put me on a level like Pyrrha so soon, maybe when I've had a few more months and some time to fully adapt to my abilities." He would've liked to spar against Pyrrha again, though he didn't intend on it anytime soon (he'd added the – to him – impossibility of becoming strong enough to beat Pyrrha to excite Nora).

"I guess I'd just ask you to be careful. It could've been worse if you'd found the drawback out during a real fight but you were lucky it was a sparring match. Just… be careful, okay? Nora might've said about you working yourself half to death before but with how things have gone recently…" Ren let the statement hang.

"I know Ren, I know." Nora smiled at the scene. Those two could be stubborn and argue or just have moments where a glance was all it took to understand one another (Nora preferred the second option, the first involved more yelling and she didn't want to take sides).

"On a fresh note…" Ren began, hoping Ichigo had finally changed his mind.

"I'm not going to the dance so don't expect me to do any dancing." Ichigo dryly retorted, pre-empting Ren's question.

Nora's turned to face him confused "Why not!? I mean you said you weren't gonna dance before but now you're flat out not going?"

"I don't really see the point. I'm not a dance-y person and it's not like I've got a reason to go. No Nora, that isn't a cue for you to try and find me a date." Ichigo responded. That discussion had come up several times recently and with the dance the following weekend he didn't really see the point in going, he wasn't a social person and didn't have a date, so why go?

Nora got a devious grin on her face, like she knew how to respond (Ichigo presumed it to be the same grin she'd given every time he said he wasn't going in the past two weeks and that she'd thought of a new person to make him go with and he'd turn her down or tell her to stop before he started insinuating things about her attending with Ren) before she stopped.

That grin made him fearful, more so when Nora didn't say anything.

This definitely wasn't going to be a normal week…

* * *

 **AN OVER A MONTH LONG SILENCE AND IT RETURNS!**

 **Seriously – I am so so so so SO sorry it took so long to get this done. Honestly most of the chapter has been done for quite a while but I'd just lost inspiration to write this – inspiration I'm not sure I've fully regained.**

 **NO, this doesn't mean I'm calling quits or anything on this story, I love it and the people who read it FAR too much to do that. I'd just say (especially with upcoming exams) don't expect updates too incredibly often, but I'll still be doing my damned best to write both this and A Protector Until The End – pointless self-promotion achievement get! – because I love writing both stories, even if we're at what is probably the least interesting and less action filled part of RWBY – and I wonder why I found it difficult to write parts of this.**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter. So this does continue literally the morning after the previous one left off. I know some people might not like how easily Ichigo grasped instinct but it's because of how much he's truly relied on it in this. The other concept (which I'm not outright saying as most of you should know this – if not it's a surprise for later) was more easily understood by his first incarnation whereas instinct was something he didn't understand.**

 **Essentially it's just a nice way to highlight the differences between him and 'Bleach Ichigo' as he'd be.**

 **As for the Ichigo VS Pyrrha fight, I hope people enjoyed it – it took some time and a lot of rewriting when I realised original attempts were total** _ **garbage**_ **– but I got it to a point I was mostly happy with, I'd definitely appreciate opinions. I'd say it was definitely probably one of the favourite fight scenes I've written so far especially seeing as it was my best attempt at an extended one that was fighting and not just a load of talking while characters fought.**

 **And dear lord I'm realising now I have so much to talk about in AN's on this story in comparison to APUTE.**

 **Also! The long since unreplied-to-Guest-reviews!**

Guest:

Another great chapter. Ichigo losing badly is the only logical thing right now. I hope that Zangetsu gets repaired though. Otherwise a certain hollow would be very pissed.

A great story that I will continue to read with great interest.

 **Thanks! I definitely agree with Ichigo losing, he always needs a push to force himself to get stronger. As for Zangetsu being repaired I didn't want to make that a major plotline or anything seeing as he'd only recently gained the blade – it'd make his power seem weak if he'd had to do some sort of requirement to repair it when he'd only just gained it. Hope you continue to enjoy the story :D**

Guest:

So will his semblance be his Bankai?

 **No way. Bigger plans for his Semblance – not divulging more.**

Guest:

I hope Bankai is Ichigo's next training. Also still love your story man keep it up.

 ***Devilish grin***

 **Again, thank you all for the support this story doesn't cease to get – seriously, I don't update for over a month and at minimum at least a hundred people have checked out the story every day, seriously, love all of you guys.**

 **Anyway, I'm happy to finally bring the totally deserving followers of this story another chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews appreciated as ever – sometimes they really help push my inspiration to write along.**

 **See ya next time :D**


	21. A Burden Shared

**It's Easter, I have nothing to do for two weeks. Procrastinating necessary revision and overall just suffering aside.**

 **GODDAMMIT IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS I AM GOING TO MAKE MYSELF WRITE THIS.**

 **Yeah. There's my overall take on this – AMV's do seriously help inspire to write sometimes.**

 **So if you want to appreciate someone for me finally getting off my ass to write some more of this story, thank Primordial Paper and his AMVs.**

 **The following is a disclaimer:**

 **Disclaimer**

 **There, happy legal rights BS?**

 **God I've missed writing sarcastic and dumb author's notes.**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Chapter 5: A Burden Shared**

* * *

Hmmm… Maybe she could -

Nope, she'd already tried that.

How about -

Tried that too.

Nora sighed in frustration, contented to continue banging her head against the table until she thought of a reasonable new scheme to convince Ichigo to get out of his training frenzy and attend the dance.

She sat at a table with Ruby on the edge of the hall the school was using for the upcoming dance, and it definitely seemed like it was set up to scream 'ballroom' or something like that, what with overlooking balconies and wall-sized windows shielded with drapes. Various half complete decorations dotted about the room, signs of Yang and Weiss' ongoing work to decorate for the dance (Team CFVY was originally assigned to do it but their mission went over the planned time, so Team RWBY was brought on. Though with the absence of Blake and the depressed mood of Ruby at Blake's recent attitude and behaviour it was really just Weiss and Yang doing all the work).

Ren _had_ been around to stop her from bruising herself – or breaking another table – but he had since returned to the dorm and left her in the hands of Team RWBY, who hopefully would've stopped her. Had Yang and Weiss not been busying themselves setting up decorations and such for the dance while Nora sat at a table off to the side with Ruby, who seemed trapped enough in her own thoughts of getting Blake to attend the dance.

Once more Nora found herself interrupted from scheming when a hand invaded her vision and prevented her forehead from impacting the table again, leading to Nora raising her gaze to the slight glare from Weiss (who had long since given up trying to convince Nora to stop, so instead just intervened whenever nearby). Nora pouted and leaned back in her chair, well aware Icey-Weissy (a nickname the heiress very much wasn't fond of) would only leave after finishing whatever she came to say – which she wouldn't start until she was sure Nora wouldn't continue to abuse the table while she was speaking.

In response to Nora's momentary agreement to stop damaging furniture, Weiss placed two pieces of completely (as far as Nora could tell) identical pieces of cloth on the table, enquiring to Ruby "I need you to pick a tablecloth." All the while smiling – Weiss enjoyed planning events to the point that it baffled Nora, wasn't the fun meant to be at the event and not the setup for it?

Ruby released her head from her hands with her expression becoming confused at the sight of the cloth, questioning "Aren't they both the same?"

Nora agreed "Yeah, same shade of boring old grey. Why not try pink or green or something, go for a dazzling pizzazz? Plus, those both look a little too small to be table cloths" the first two thirds of her statement were honest, the final comment was purely in good humour and because Nora realised sometimes people thought she was being genuinely serious when she was just joking.

Weiss just scoffed in disappointment at the two (Nora assumed the sigh meant something along the lines of why did she expect less cultured people to find any difference), responding "I don't even know why I asked." Before walking off to continue with setup.

The heiress gone, Nora saw it fit to continue her earlier endeavours into thought – so she went back to banging her head against the table. She'd figure something out eventually – or get brain damaged trying.

Just as Nora had returned to her early actions so had Ruby gone back to slumping against the table dejectedly, still unable to think of a way to convince their absent teammate to at least consider attending the dance – or to at least get some sleep.

Yang strolled over, an oversized speaker held over her shoulder as easily as one would hold a chair, or perhaps an overfilled bag, before unceremoniously dropping it to the ground uncaring of the loud noise of impact. Satisfied at her work, she dusted off her hands and meandered over to the table and addressed the less active girls "So, have you picked out dresses yet?"

Nora raised her head from the table to nod vigorously, a satisfied grin adorning her face – before she promptly continued the epic battle between face and table.

What if she hit him over the head with a hammer and locked him in a room until he started complying?

Well, she had done that before when he'd refused to comply with her eager training regimen in preparation to join Beacon – though afterwards he never trusted her enough to be in a room alone with her without a weapon again.

Still, it could work…

"What's the point?" Ruby responded, her unhappy tone carrying through "Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" So Blake was being just as off recently as Ichigo was – Nora could feel her evil plan solidifying.

"Oh, don't worry. She's going." Yang replied confidently, convinced she would without doubt be able to convince her teammate to attend.

In Nora's mind, that may have covered Blake's recent refusal for socialisation and at least temporarily break Ichigo's continual training it didn't solve the fact the two scarcely spoke and Blake seemed to make an effort to even avoid being around him altogether recently.

If Ichigo saw not having a date as a valid excuse not to go – and if Blake didn't plan on going and thus didn't have a date. Yep, Nora was definitely going to need to steal Yang away for a little scheming session, even if the two didn't attend as a couple the aim was to at least get them back on civil terms (setting them up wasn't the aim of her plan but would serve as a bonus if it happened).

Before Nora could grab Yang to begin execution of her master plan, Yang called out "Weiss! I thought we agreed, no doilies!" 'Doily' was a weird work (and Nora had absolutely NO idea what it was, though it sounded like a fancy rich person thing, so it figures Weiss would know what it was).

Weiss retorted "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines." Nora was about to start making bets to see if it would turn into a ballroom decoration catfight, but the intervention/appearance of Sun and Neptune put a halt to any escalations the argument may have taken.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune questioned. Nora surmised that meant the dance would have fog machines now, seeing as Weiss definitely had an obvious crush for Neptune to the point her personality almost seemed to one-eighty around him (it was funny to watch at least).

As quickly as Neptune appeared, so did the smile on Weiss' face as she replied "We were thinking about it." Nora considered that a win on her prediction abilities.

"That's pretty cool." Neptune responded.

"You ladies all excited for dress up?" Sun questioned the girls present (with finger guns to go with it, which Nora at least found amusing – Sun was like the funny friend you could always trust to have a joke around with).

Ruby snickered "Pffft, yeah right."

"Laugh all you want," Yang replied "I'll be turning heads tomorrow night." Nora at least thought it would be amusing to watch Yang if she'd be flirting with anyone – usually anyone who tried to flirt with Yang got a kiss – from Ember Celica, and Nora wanted to make a game about how far they'd usually fly.

Nora would want to talk about the awesome dress she and Pyrrha picked out – it was pink and that was all she really cared about though, and fashion tended to bore her immensely.

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss questioned the boys in response.

Sun made a total sound that would synonymise with 'DUH!' before saying "Uh, this." No wonder Sun and Ichigo got along – neither had fashion sense and would stick to one outfit if at all possible (though Ichigo wouldn't mind other clothes as long as the colour was white or black).

Though much like Ren had gotten a suit for Ichigo (even though the latter still believed they had a choice about going or not), Sun seemed to have Neptune to cover for him when the blue haired teen stepped in front and held an arm in front of Sun's face and said "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says." Which Nora chuckled at – Neptune sounded like he was trying to be a priest of fashion or something.

Sun recovered quickly, stepping in front of Neptune's arm to retort "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a 'shirt-and-tie' kinda place." Though the smile holding on Neptune's face confirmed this was usual banter for the two.

Sun's 'well justified' statement however simply drew deadpan looks from the others present and Yang acted in a unified voice to reply "Yeah, we've noticed."

"So, uh… what does Blake think of all this?" Sun brought the conversation back to more current matters – Nora hadn't gotten over the fact he still seemed regretful for telling Ichigo about Team RWBY's plans that led to Ichigo fighting against Ginjo again, which he had been forgiven for by all of Team RWBY bar Blake, who at least talked to him sometimes – more than could be said for Ichigo.

"She still being all, ya know… Blake-y?" Sun finished.

"Obviously." Weiss responded simply, though Nora wasn't sure if it was out of hostility to Sun or wanting to keep team matters specifically to her team.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind. We've had just as much luck convincing Blake to go as Nora's had convincing Ichigo to stop training." Ruby's statement brought Nora away from the distraction of conversation and back to her current reality.

"While I'm not sure about Ichigo," Yang looked to Nora "I'm telling you Blake will be at the dance tomorrow." Time for some convenient conspiring.

Some of her usual endless energy returning, Nora slammed her hands against the desk for emphasis before standing, grabbing Yang and running off – yelling "How about a two-for-one deal?" which the others were left to assume either Nora had an idea but needed Yang or the school would be blown up within the day.

Neptune simply confusedly pointed between the spot the two girls had once occupied and the now already slammed doors, wondering how anyone without Ruby's Semblance could have gotten from point A to B so fast. Looking to Sun for guidance or explanation, Sun shrugged non-committedly as if saying 'Yeah, shit like this happens, whaddaya gonna do?'

Content that the biggest threat to a proper ballroom setup would be temporarily indisposed, Weiss decided to use the opportunity to retrieve the doilies Yang had tried to remove previously.

Ruby was left hopeful that her friends would be back to acting normally and interacting like the used to soon – and then came to the dreaded realisation that the dance was the following day and she'd have to wear heels.

* * *

Ichigo wished he was capable of regretting the various life decisions that had led to this point – then he realised he couldn't because he hadn't made any of the decisions, in fact he had been given no choice in the matter at all.

He was going to give Nora hell after this, though.

" **That's your fault for not payin' any attention to your body while we're training, dumbass"** Zangetsu supplied, thoroughly amused by his wielder's discomfort in his current situation. Zangetsu had _conveniently_ chosen not to tell Ichigo when Nora had made use of his essentially unconscious state to drag him from their dorm room to one of the unoccupied classrooms (it was late in the day, classes were done anyway) before chucking him in and locking the door.

In much the same fashion the scheming witches had conveniently, at the same time dragged Blake away from her ongoing research into activity involving Torchwick and the White Fang and brought her into the room, before rushing off and locking the doors behind them. The two were no doubt waiting outside, responding to Blake's demands to be released by telling her to talk out her problems or that they wouldn't be let out until they started acting normally again.

Ichigo had no delusions of the level of this betrayal – Jaune and Ren had been in the room with him! Pyrrha might've been too, and none of them had stopped her from dragging him across campus?!

Hell would be payed – after he waited until Nora gave up. Blake hadn't bothered sparing him a second glance after entering the room, instead sitting on the desk and occasionally walking over to the doors to bang on them and demand Yang unlock them before being denied and returning to her previous position.

Ichigo, for his part, wasn't sure what he was meant to say. Blake had been ignoring him for weeks – ever since he last fought Ginjo – and he'd tried talking to her, but he'd just gotten brushed off or outright ignored repeatedly.

Once more after Blake was denied exit Ichigo spoke up "Believe me, you might be able to trick or convince Yang into letting you leave, but Nora's a whole other basket case" he sighed in realisation that this was the same as her crazy training regime all over again "Nora won't give up until she's satisfied with the results of whatever crazy crap she wants you to agree to – or until she's convinced she's left us too long and one may have starved and died."

No response. Nothing to acknowledge she'd even listened to a word he said, just the continual sight of the front half of the classroom in front of him from his spot sitting on one of the desks further back – the sight of the front half of the classroom and Blake's back as she continued to stare at the board and ignore his existence.

" **So are we pissed off yet? Because I think we should be pissed off by now."** Zangetsu supplied.

Well, if there was one thing Ichigo had learned from Zangetsu other than fighting – it was pissing people off. "Jeez Blake, I know you usually aren't the most talkative person but this," even if she couldn't see it he raised his hand at her in a general gesture "is a new level even for you."

"Word of advice," he continued "ignoring people for long enough doesn't make them stop existing – trust me, I know from experience." _'I'm talking about you, Zangetsu'_ he added silently.

" **I resent that!"**

' _Well if it counts I've stopped doing that now, I just used to when I thought you were a sign I was going crazy'_

" **I still resent it though"** Zangetsu mumbled in response.

"Are you trying to make a point?" Blake responded, and Ichigo was relieved he'd event gotten her to talk to him – those were more words than she'd spoken to him in at least a week or so.

He shrugged "Maybe, or maybe I'm just trying to get you to look away from White Fang related research long enough to have an actual conversation," he intended to make that his point but in his frustration at the situation continued "maybe so I could potentially build up to the point where I could ask you why you've avoided me since the docks or outright ignored me since the night you guys fought the Paladin." It hadn't left Ichigo's memory that Blake had been acting off with him before his last fight with Ginjo – it just got worse after the fact.

At this point Blake had fully turned to him – and he figured he'd get a normal excuse. Perhaps 'she hadn't been acting weird at all' or 'she'd been too focused on trying to get a lead on the White Fang to stop them' but Ichigo was more focused for a moment on how stressed and tired Blake looked. Black bags outlined her eyes and, if that didn't go to show her sleeplessness, her eyes that only seemed to stay open due to immense willpower did.

" **Wow, and to think the only reason you don't look like as much a zombie as she does is because you have Jinzen for training."** Zangetsu commented.

"You want to know why I've ignored you and avoided you?" Blake questioned – and Ichigo subconsciously acknowledged he'd just lit a powder keg that was about to blow up in his face "Should I start with when you almost died the first time? Or should we start with the second time?"

' _Damn, I thought she'd gotten over that after the docks'_ Ichigo thought he'd managed to help her worries about his near death back then and didn't even consider it as reasoning for her actions towards him now.

" **And you don't acknowledge the fact she started avoiding you after you nearly died the first time – dear lord of Hueco Mundo how many meanings of the description 'Dense moron' apply to you?"**

"I thought if I could avoid you that you'd stay away from the situation instead of trying to fight a battle you can't win!" Blake's patience seemed to have had it with him at this point, he guessed.

Ichigo replied "Fighting battles I can't win, huh? If I say the words 'overworked' and 'non-stop' and 'White Fang' or 'Roman Torchwick', would any of those words have similar meaning to you?" she couldn't seriously be talking about him fighting impossible battles when she was trying to find information to take on the White Fang when she looked like she'd barely be able to take on a Boarbatusk.

"That's different, and you know it." Blake responded.

"Do I?" he questioned rhetorically "I don't think it is. You think you get an all-out excuse to work yourself to death to stop the White Fang because you used to be a member? Ginjo makes it personal to me every time we fight. Me and nobody else – that's why I have to beat him." Blake should've understood this – she was one of the people Ginjo was taunting and trying to break while Ichigo lay bleeding on the floor.

Both of them were angry and exhausted to their breaking points – it was simply a matter of which box broke the horses' back.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be a metaphorical box that Blake would respond with freely "And maybe it isn't about you being selfish and rushing off to get yourself killed at every opportunity!"

* * *

Silence.

That was all Blake received in response to her last remark – and she could assume based on the lack of sound or response from outside that Yang and Nora had previously left, probably assuming things would be fixed by the time they returned.

Ichigo might've had his reasoning, but he didn't understand what she –and all of their friends – felt every time he'd barely survived an encounter with Ginjo. Ichigo may have been enraged at how easily the Fullbringer had toyed with them – but none of them failed to remember he was the first one to be on the ground, bleeding out.

It was another one of her reasons for continuing her work without stopping. Roman Torchwick was using the White Fang as toy soldiers so he could continue his thieving. That wasn't the White Fang her father once led and it wasn't the White Fang she fought to sustain the ideals of. She wanted to beat Torchwick in hopes it would bring the group closer to the peaceful group it had once been.

The fact stopping the group would also bring a stop to Kugo Ginjo was a certified bonus in her mind – and the reason she didn't want Ichigo's help, no matter how freely he offered it.

And by this point she was just wishing he'd say something – anything, even if it was insulting or berating her for her decision to protect him when he didn't wish to be protected.

Instead, he simply stood there, leaning against the opposite end of the desk she was with his hands gripping the edge of the desk behind him. His scowl was set firmly in place and she couldn't read much from him when his eyes were closed.

And after what felt like far too long he spoke. "Selfish? You think I'm being selfish, maybe that I don't understand what it's like to be powerless or some kinda bullshit like that?" his grip on the desk must've tightened at some point, all Blake knew was when it had exceeded the limit of pressure the wood could take when the edge of the desk had splintered and broke under his grasp.

When he opened his eyes, Blake expected the rage that accompanied his words, but was instead frozen to the spot at what she saw. Honey brown orbs with the white sclera befitting any ordinary human were gone, replaced with sickly golden irises and black sclera.

" **Don't say shit to me about selfishness!"** The double toned voice that broke the unbearable silence was not Ichigo's at all.

Blake took a step back – due to the sudden change in everything from body language to facial expression and _those eyes_ – she couldn't even call it an involuntary one. If 'Ichigo' noticed her reaction or not, he didn't show it as he continued **"You think you're the only one that knows what it's like to be powerless? Think back to the initiation – Ichigo having to watch all of you fight an uphill battle there was only a small chance of you winning, and what could he do?!"**

Blake was taken further back by the confirmation. This _wasn't_ Ichigo, yet spoke as if it had been there. Personally she'd never asked too much about the events after the initiation – but that had been the first event of erratic behaviour or events that occurred around Ichigo specifically. Unfortunately in her shocked state the only response Blake could form was "What _are_ you?"

It stopped walking towards her – which it had been doing to keep up as she edged herself away – and _laughed_. A grin spread across Ichigo's face that so blatantly disagreed with everything she knew about Ichigo, and endless, almost maniacal laughter escaped his lips. The high pitched noise only served to cement Blake's fears, however – she'd edged towards the door and tried to open it. The door was still locked, and Nora and Yang hadn't returned.

When it finally noticed her position its laughter died off completely, as did the grin. As Blake stood opposite him once more in damnable silence she'd wished she'd had her weapon on her when Yang had dragged her off to 'talk'. Whatever feeling of hostility and potential for attack, however, died off when he simply turned from her and returned to his spot leaning against the desk.

" **Figures."** It spoke again **"You'd be my best bet for someone to help get this lesson across to the idiot, and all you serve to do is justify his fears."** All previous emotions and attitude were gone, but Blake still continued to stare at him in realisation when he gave his ultimatum.

" **Choice is yours, I guess."** He started **"I've seen enough and know enough to know you're smart enough to figure it out if you told anyone else what you've seen, so I guess I'm leaving it in your hands."** He clasped his own hands together in waiting, and it didn't escape Blake's notice of the small white shards he seemed to be fiddling with in his hands.

Slowly, she edged away from the door cautiously. "What are you talking about?" she asked after a moment of trepidation.

" **I'm talkin' about whether you're gonna run off and tell all the others. I figured you'd be the easiest person to have this idiot"** he lazily raised a hand and gestured to himself **"talk to, seeing as he's done it before. It's your choice whether you want to talk, or if you want to be the one to hand over the kid with a Hollow inside him."** He finished, watching Blake's eyes widen.

At her change in expression he laughed humourlessly **"Jeez, spoiler alert I guess. I kinda thought the eyes and voice gave it away, if this didn't,"** he raised the object in his hands, and the shards from before formed together – a larger fragment of bone or shard with a hole, and a crimson stripe that crossed over it down to the beginnings of what seemed to be jagged teeth – it was part of a possibly Grimm, though with what it had said it was almost certainly a Hollow mask.

Without pause he continued **"Well I guess this is where you go through the usual stages of reaction, what were they again?"** he paused in thought before snapping his fingers as if a lightbulb had turned on above his head **"Fear, then possibly denial coupled with some anger – whatever that crap was, you'd know it better than I would after all. S'why I figured you'd be easiest for him to talk to."** Blake had caught on halfway through his statement. She couldn't deny the truth behind the Hollow's words or its existence – there was no way her sleep deprived mind would come up with something like this.

The rest of his statement however – "You're likening having you inside him to being like a Faunus." She responded in surprise.

" **Maybe not in as many words"** he shrugged **"But I'm likening the struggle, after all, you of all people would understand why nobody else knows about this. Some humans hate Faunus and spread that hate so that people suffer undeservingly."** He paused, allowing her to take in the similarities between Ichigo's secret and her own.

" **Difference is, only a fraction of people hate Faunus."** She didn't need to hear his next statement to know what he was going to say _**Everyone**_ **would hate someone with a Hollow inside them, especially considering there aren't any others in existence."**

He seemed to let Blake stop to mull this over, and mull it over she did. Ichigo had kept something like this secret from them for so long, and –

No, she couldn't even bring herself to be angry at this point. He was in a position she understood all too well. Beyond that, her lack of sleep and the overall shock from what she'd just had revealed to her left her far too drained to try and be angry.

Still, to know he'd kept a secret like this to himself for all this time, to the point that it seemed even Ren and Nora, his two closest friends, had no clue or indication to it. It also explained a few questionable events involving Ichigo on the side as well.

After several minutes her sleepless mind managed to sort through enough to decide the easiest approach first. "Why would Ichigo want you to tell me this? Why not Ren or Nora or someone closer to him?" she questioned.

He laughed nervously **"Couple of misconceptions you got goin' on there. First of all, he didn't want anyone to know this – you pissed me off so I forced him outta the driver's seat,"** Blake gave him a surprised look that he was capable of that and he interpreted it as something to be explained before she took it as an action against Ichigo. **"The amateur's been working himself to near death and nobody notices because nobody sees him doing it. He's had me working him to the bone non-stop but fails to make any significant progress because of the current crap you're all involved in"** he paused for breath – or because he'd chosen to stop himself before going off topic **"I know the idiot better than anyone else in existence. When he gets in a rut like this the only thing that'll get him out of it is a wakeup call from one of his friends – that's where you come in."**

Blake shot him a look "That didn't answer the question as to why you're telling _me."_

He shrugged, a repeated action that made Blake think this Hollow didn't think its own plans through well enough **"Ever since he got to this place you were always someone he could talk to – someone that would understand secrecy or being too afraid of how people he's known almost half his life will react – to see those people looking at him like a monster,"** he gesticulated for a few seconds before the word seemed to appear in his mind **"Someone he can trust – you say about talking to others closer to him but you know how he values his friends, and I'd say comparatively you're closer than some of the others you think I coulda been telling this to. Plus to me it looks like you could use someone to talk to as well."**

Blake sighed, realising the shocking parts of the conversation had receded and this was still the situation she'd been in ten minutes before. When she made no move to speak about it, the Hollow responded to her silence **"Well, if you don't wanna talk to me, I'm all the better for it. I'd just say be careful when he comes to – he won't be expecting anything good if he wakes up and realises I took full control with you around."**

Before Blake could realise what he meant the now half-mask in his hands shattered and Ichigo's eyes returned to his natural colour.

Then said eyes closed and he promptly collapsed backwards against the desk.

* * *

When Ichigo came to, it took him all of five seconds to realise what had happened. Zangetsu took control. _In front of one of his friends._

' _What did you do?!'_ he screamed internally, to no avail. Zangetsu didn't respond. Ichigo didn't know how he should be reacting – had anyone else shown up? What had Zangetsu done while in control? This wasn't like simply controlling his movements in class – he hadn't been conscious at all, almost like his Zanpakuto had forced him to sleep and _then_ taken control.

' _Abandon your fear. Abandon your fear. Abandon your fear'_ he had to repeat it to himself like a mantra before he could finally muster the courage to open his eyes. Blake stood against the desk casually – as casual as she once would've been when they still hung out normally.

Upon seeing him open his eyes, she joked "Well suddenly you talking to the voices in your head make a whole lot more sense now."

' _What?'_

Ichigo couldn't formulate words. She knew about Zangetsu, but she wasn't afraid – or treating him like a monster? So he gaped. His jaw may as well have not even been attached.

A few minutes – and a few internal panic attacks – later and Ichigo finally managed to say something. "You know about Zangetsu." His voice was beyond quiet, reflecting his – dare he say it – _fear_. The only indication that Blake heard him was that her ears twitched beneath her bow, probably only just able to hear him.

Unfortunately the universe seemed intent on continuing to shock, scare or surprise him. What he expected was probably anger or fear or questions, or even for Blake to continue ignoring him as she had before. What he didn't expect was the blunt question of "You named your Hollow half?"

Ichigo wasn't sure how his brain worked any more so he just started talking "He's not really a half – he's more like an inner Hollow, like inside my soul. I didn't name him either, he already had a name." at the end of his response his brain finally caught up with his mouth "How are you so damn _calm_ about this?"

She _shrugged_ at him "You never really did qualify as _normal_ in my eyes – now I just have a definition for why."

Well this was definitely ranking on one of the weirdest days Ichigo had ever had at Beacon. Grasping at straws, he asked "So what happens now?" even he wasn't really sure in what context he was asking – that Blake knew his secret or that they were having a normal (by standards for them) conversation.

She sat down against the desk, sitting next to where he'd stayed leaning after Zangetsu had dropped his control. She responded "You need to slow down. You look ready to drop any second." There was no hostility, no anger – just concern of a friend.

That didn't stop Ichigo's immediate response however. "I'd call that total shock, to be honest. You've got it written all over your face too, and you already looked like coffee was the only thing keeping you awake before. And I'd definitely be the one to say I'm not the only one that needs a break." Blake looked even more exhausted than she had when they were first locked in the room – though he guessed that was to be expected when she'd just gone through discovering about Zangetsu – something he'd no doubt have to fully explain at some point.

She sighed and turned her head – practically refusing to meet his gaze. "I can't" she answered "Torchwick is still out there, and somebody has to do something about it."

Blake turned back to him at the sound of his palm hitting his face. Removing the appendage from his face after the facepalm reaction he commented "And after all that crap you said about me running off to get myself killed." He turned to Blake fully "I never said I'd stop training – but I know I need to take a break before I work myself to death, so the next time I face Ginjo it can be on my terms and I can be at full power." He waved his hand for emphasis, watching the black Reiatsu outlined in red dance in flickers from his fingertips before continuing.

"You, on the other hand – or I guess, the same hand, need some sleep. I don't care if you need or want protecting, I'm not willing to let my friend go out and risk her life if she isn't at one hundred percent." He watched Blake's emotions conflict in response – and decided he'd save grilling out Nora and Zangetsu for after he'd slept. Sleep sounded like the best thing in the universe right now.

"Okay" Blake finally answered "But on two conditions."

"And that is?"

"Promise you aren't going to get yourself killed. You said once you always keep your promises" true enough he had – he liked to be a man of his word no matter what. He'd never expected something like that from Blake though – Blake, the realistic one – but he guessed everyone could do something out of the ordinary every once in a while.

"And the second condition?" he asked.

"An explanation," she said "to make more sense out of all of this. How is it even possible for someone to have a Hollow inside them? Is there even a term for it?"

He didn't respond and instead stood and offered her a hand up and she took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "It's a deal. But as for the questions half of them even I won't know the answers to. As for a term for what I am, Zangetsu once used the term 'Visored'." He responded. She gave a small smile in response – and Ichigo finally got to register that Zangetsu had actually managed to get something right without it blowing up in his face.

' **I resent that, too!'**

"Yeah, well I resent you – you could've given me some kind of warning you were going to take over in the middle of a conversation!" he responded aloud – Blake turned to look at him momentarily before dismissing him arguing aloud with his Zanpakuto.

Blake experimentally knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before turning to him "I don't think they've come back, and the doors are still locked." She supplied.

"Great, just great" Ichigo muttered, stating aloud "Well I originally intended to go easy on them but seeing as I'm having to break school property because they got bored of standing around I guess Zangetsu gets to decide how those two pay for this." He chuckled, and Blake smiled while shaking her head – though he didn't take that as objection for revenge against their teammates.

Well, he'd finally been coerced into agreeing to get some sleep and had managed to repair his friendship with Blake – so today hadn't been that bad a day. Now there were just any more plans Nora had for trying to force him to the dance to worry about, and he swore he'd been forgetting something.

"Damn!" he cursed aloud, turning to Blake who was giving him a questioning look "Sun wasn't the one who told me about you guys staking out the White Fang meeting – I found out and told him."

Blake paused for a second, registering his statement before her eyes narrowed "How did you know that without specifically eavesdropping our dorm room?" she questioned with a warning tone in her voice.

The warning tone definitely put him on edge – he'd just managed to get her talking to him again and seriously didn't want to go back to levels of 'pretend you don't exist'. "It's like this other plane of existence" he supplied "I've travelled there unconsciously before – it's how I knew your team found out your secret" upon her glare he realised that had been the wrong example – and one she hadn't known about "It's how I knew about that Gillian before it appeared!" he exclaimed with hands held up in surrender. Deciding further explanation would be necessary, he continued "When I'm there it's like nothing is real – all I can perceive is the energy and Aura. Even Zangetsu doesn't have a damn clue what it is, and I swear he was the one that dragged me there to hear what your team was saying in the first place!"

' **Traitor! And after all I did for you in fixing your friendship!'**

Blake sighed "Things aren't going to get any more normal if I keep hanging out with you, are they?"

Ichigo sighed in relief and followed it with a smirk, responding "Nope. Everything around me is crazy and it makes life interesting. Plus it makes hanging out on the roof and just talking while away from the insanity that much more enjoyable." He joked, referring to how much he'd escaped his usual dose of insanity when hanging out with Blake.

"Figures" Blake bluntly responded.

* * *

" **Weird"** Zangetsu stated simply from his perch, his legs casually dangling over the edge of the building.

"What is?" Ichigo questioned while lying on his back, content to watch the clouds roll past in his inner world.

" **This!"** Zangetsu yelled suddenly, throwing his arms in an expansive gesture. **"Over twenty-four hours and you haven't done a lick of damn training! Not a single time have you asked what you're training for and frankly it's both confusing and terrifying!"**

In response to the spirit's outburst, Ichigo sighed "I agreed to get some rest and take a break, didn't I?"

" **Well, yeah"** Zangetsu fumbled for his point **"But you're being so un-** _ **you**_ **-like that it's creepin' me out. Did Emo-Kitty break your brain or somethin'?"**

"Hell if I know," Ichigo responded "I think I stopped understanding how my mind worked when you popped up." He smirked at the spirit, chuckling at their normal back-and-forth of insults.

" **Well you're less interesting if I can't beat the crap outta you, y'know?"** Zangetsu responded **"Either way, if you ain't gonna train then why didn't ya just go to the dancey-party-whatever thing in the first place?"** Zangetsu gestured at the teen's attire, more specifically the shirt and trousers he was wearing that essentially made up half the suit Ren had gotten him for the dance.

Ichigo awoke from his inner world but made no effort to move, content to lie in his hammock. "I'm not the kind of guy for stuff like that," he responded "You know as well as I do that the only thing that would happen if I tried to dance is you'd end up laughing your ass off."

" **Exactly!"** the Zanpakuto replied **"Staring at clouds and the dormroom ceiling aren't nearly as entertaining as your inability to dance."**

"Plus," Ichigo continued, ignoring the spirit "I'm not a fan of… well, anything that dances entail, really." He was lucky he'd been able to play off tiredness as an excuse to avoid attending, even if he'd slept most of the night before – either way both his team and Team RWBY seemed content towards the change in attitude from himself and Blake and that they were talking again (and no questions were raised as to what happened that would involve lying or skirting around Zangetsu).

" **I find that hard to believe."** Zangetsu responded, sounding unconvinced.

"Really?" Ichigo started (he needn't bother keeping his replies in his head, pretty much every student was attending the dance bar perhaps a few – but they were nowhere nearby, so he had free reign to talk aloud). "I don't dance. I don't have much of a music interest and if you never noticed I'm not the most social person in the world." He paused "And frankly I fit the cliché for the guy who shows up only to end up getting into a fight."

" **First of all,"** Zangetsu retorted **"I don't see how that last one was a bad thing."**

"You wouldn't." Ichigo muttered.

" **Second of all,"** Zangetsu paid no heed to Ichigo's muttering, continuing in stride **"The dance has the one thing that matters to you most, which is why I'm confused as to why you're sitting on your ass alone in a room when all your friends are over there!"** Zangetsu reasoned, choosing to abandon the subtle persuasion entirely. If he got Ichigo thinking on the topic enough the amateur might actually understand the second lesson himself without having his hand held the entire way.

Ichigo shrugged, understanding Zangetsu's logic. "I guess I'm just not that interested in going. The others have been hyping themselves for the dance for a while now because they either organised it or had plans for it. I just didn't really have a reason to go." He inspected the rest of the suit Ren had gotten him – the same most of the boys would be wearing to the dance.

" **Ugh!"** Zangetsu groaned **"Idiots. Can't live in their soul and can't go too long without having to force yourself to avoid giving relationship advice or advice on not being a dense idiot. What would you be willing to do to protect those you care about?"** Before Ichigo had a chance to interpret whatever nonsensical (and completely random) crap his Zanpakuto was spouting this time the Hollow quickly finished **"Reason to go, six 'o' clock, figure out the lesson and I might go easier on ya, bye!"**

"Wait, wait, wait" Ichigo responded, thoroughly confused "What the fuck are you talking about?!"

That was when he heard a knock at the door.

Ichigo sighed. The dance had started just under an hour ago and most students were in attendance, meaning one of two things in his mind.

Option A (the one he hoped most for) was that one of his teammates had gotten tired and left early or come back to pick up something they'd forgotten (why the hell had Jaune come back and rushed back out with a bag that Ichigo was at least seventy-eight percent sure contained a _dress_ he would never understand).

Or Option B, being the one he dreaded.

The thoughts of what he was (potentially) getting himself into firmly plastered into his mind – along with prayers of it being either Option A or a new option he hadn't thought of – he opened the door.

Blake stood in the hallway wearing a short, purple, asymmetrical, halter neck dress with a black collar and a teal bow replacing her usual black one.

' _Well,'_ Ichigo dryly thought to himself _'Didn't cover that possibility in A or B.'_

"Hey" Blake greeted – at least she looked like she'd spent as much time as he had catching up on lost sleep (and he wasn't past considering her not glaring at him as a bonus).

"Yo," he greeted "What's up? I thought you'd be at the dance by threat of Yang." He stated – happy for the return to joking about their teammates usual tendencies.

"Well Nora said you weren't interested in coming," Ichigo cursed silently – Option B was Nora taking a final attempt to get him to show up at the dance, and it seemed that prediction had come true – "and you agreed to give explanations wherever you could."

Ichigo sighed, wishing Zangetsu would stop choosing inconvenient times to abandon him (he imagined the spirit did this to sit back in his inner world and watch him squirm, possibly with imaginary popcorn). "Keeping that promise overrides any objections I have about going to the dance, doesn't it?"

Blake laughed "She did say I was allowed to use any means necessary to get you to go, but I can just tell her you were asleep." So she hadn't completely betrayed him to the side of the scheming teammates he still had to plan revenge against.

Unfortunately in his current situation the win still seemed to go to Nora "No, its fine." He objected, making a grab for the dress shoes by the desk "Besides, I've been cooped up in here doing nothing all day anyway so I might as well get some fresh air."

After hastily pulling on the shoes he grabbed the tie from his bundle of clothing, tying the piece of cloth to the best of his ability before undoing the uppermost button (he wasn't choking himself for the sake of formalities) and making to move for the suit jacket. At the last second he decided against it and instead headed for his nearby bag.

"And I thought Weiss took her time getting ready" Blake bluntly stated, no doubt smirking at him.

"Ha-ha, very funny, good to see your sense of humour has made a comeback." He retorted "Sorry I was raised to act like a gentleman, so if I'm going to show up to a ballroom dance – where I am definitely unable to actually dance – I ought to make up for it by at least looking like I haven't been thrown out of bed and forced to attend." Hopefully the irony wasn't lost on Blake. While technically not being forced to attend he had agreed to give Blake explanations and it seemed like a good time and he'd conveniently thrown himself out of bed just before she'd shown up.

As for the 'acting like a gentleman' part, he blamed his mother. While he'd never met his grandparents his mother told all sorts of anecdotes that made them seem like a prim and proper family that his mother was adopted into – it was definitely a 'Kurosaki' thing to not get along too well with people like that, but he'd learned a few things.

His thoughts aside, he'd finally found what he'd been searching for in his bag. Pulling it out, it had at least stayed in remarkably good condition. "Your old coat?" Blake enquired "I thought it got wrecked at the docks?"

Ichigo gestured to the plastic coat over his trench coat as he removed it "I like this coat, so I may have gotten a bit sentimental and payed to get a new one made." Now removed from the cover, he pulled the trench coat over his shoulders. He'd probably stand out in the dance – nobody else would walk in wearing a white trench coat, but he figured it'd be better to wear it out for something social where it wouldn't get wrecked like its predecessor.

He presented himself to Blake, enquiring "So, how do I look?"

She gave him a dry look and a smirk "Like you're showing up for a dance an hour late."

He shrugged with a laugh "Good, that's what I was going for."

He stepped into the hallway and she locked her arm with his. As they walked Ichigo realised how quickly the situation he was in had changed. He had someone he could trust with what he knew, maybe even someone who could make sense of the stuff he couldn't.

 _Then_ his thoughts traced back to Nora's scheming and the fact she'd asked Blake to come get him instead of coming herself (though he chose to use that opportunity to make a joke at her and Ren's expense later on).

" **Dear lord he has half a functional brain cell! Give this kid a medal!"** Zangetsu roared with laughter in his mind. After the laughter reduced to fits of laughter that slowly decreased in volume Zangetsu spoke up again **"I don't even know why I bother – ask** _ **her**_ **you damn moron!"**

Ichigo used his free hand to scratch at the back of his neck before he decided he could feel like a moron later if he was wrong "Is this a date? I've been told – _several_ times – that I'm a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to stuff like that."

Blake sent him a glance and a smile in response "Something like that, maybe. We'll just have to see how the evening goes."

' _Why is everything in my life ambiguous or confusing?'_

" **Buddy, that isn't just your life. Sometimes women are confusing too – it just doesn't help that you're a moron, have a confusing life and that you're in a situation like this."**

' _I hate you sometimes'_

" **You'll thank me one day"**

' _The hell I will!'_

Well, the evening was going to be interesting at least.

* * *

Ichigo stood at the edge of the ballroom, a punch glass in his hand as he looked among the room full of his peers. Truly it hadn't ended up being as bad as he'd thought. He totally wasn't biased because he'd taken at least a dozen pictures of his team leader dancing with Pyrrha while wearing a dress. Nope, totally not.

Zangetsu still hadn't stopped laughing enough to form a coherent sentence.

Overall, fun was had, drinks were drunk and laughs were shared. And Ichigo had left the room at least three times to slip into his inner world and kick Zangetsu to quiet him down (the Hollow didn't resist much, what with being on the floor laughing and crying). He and Blake had acted as if it wasn't even a dance – it had been like any other day. They'd hang around, talk, joke and enjoy the company of the other – simplicity at its finest.

Though that still didn't mean Nora wasn't going to make jokes about it or insinuate things later on, of which Ichigo had no doubts.

Blake had wandered off to refill her drink and speak to her teammates, leaving Ichigo to (once more) attempt to stop Zangetsu's laughter to no avail. It seemed to be an endless cycle that always ended with more laughter than before.

"Tranquillity at its finest," until his efforts were promptly ended by Ozpin scaring him shitless.

" **Got-Batman'd"** were the only two words Zangetsu strung together among fits of laughter that Ichigo could make out.

Acting as if he hadn't almost thrown punch over his new coat Ichigo caught himself "I guess that depends on whatever your definition of 'tranquil' is." The headmaster was always interesting for conversations that seemed philosophical, so Ichigo chose to prompt him.

"I would refer to it as the lack of evil," Ozpin responded "where young warriors can be exactly that – young. Where none bear the weight of the world quite literally."

"Isn't that what we fight for though?" Ichigo responded "To protect that right for others – isn't that what gets preached to any kid who wants to pick up a weapon in hopes of fighting the monsters?" he understood why some Huntsmen were cynics; he'd seen it from their point of view. Others like him and his friends had been fighting the same battle for years – centuries, even.

"Indeed," Ozpin replied "many have watched those who would defend the people of this world rise and fall over centuries. Perspective like that makes you wonder why we continue to fight a seemingly hopeless battle, doesn't it?"

"What would you do to protect what you care about most?" Ichigo found himself saying in response. Something about Ozpin's words made him question a lot – as it always was with the professor. He always put Ichigo on edge – a man that seemed to know everything, like nothing could take him by surprise anymore.

Ozpin chuckled "Indeed. Perhaps it was that the people of this world resolved themselves long ago that they would be willing to fight and perhaps kill to protect what is good in this world. To see past all the evils and spot the light in the darkness and do anything in your power to protect it; that is what it is to be a Huntsman."

Ichigo let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "So do you get payed by the hour or per inspirational speech? I'm pretty sure I left my wallet in my other pants." He joked, but he understood. If someone as experienced as Ozpin saw that as the job of a Huntsman then he guessed the cynics he'd seen were just men without the strength to continue hoping.

"That won't be necessary," the professor replied, glancing across the ballroom at a rather… _giddy_ looking Professor Port. "Oh dear," he said "It looks as if I will have to resolve that situation before it gets out of hand." He turned to Ichigo "If you wish to repay me; then never give up. Honour the legacy of all who came before and perhaps one day instead it will be harder to find the darkness than it is to find the light."

Ichigo sat down after the professor left, crossing his arms in front of himself and interlocking his fingers in front of his face, holding a contemplative gaze. "What would I do to protect what I cared about?" Ozpin's statements gave him a pause from the evening and instead gave him thoughts he'd never acknowledged before – how long he could – and would – fight the endless battle against the darkness for the sake of others and the fate it would lead to.

The same thought plagued him – how far would he go to protect what mattered to him?

… Which was probably why Blake surprised him so much when she returned with her punch (and Ichigo thanked whatever deities existed that he'd long since placed down his drink for the sake of his stainless coat (fixing the rather large and plentiful tears and cleaning out the blood had cost him a fair amount of Lien that he'd rather not have to fork over again).

"Are you sure you don't need more sleep?" she questioned upon seeing his state.

He shook himself from his too-philosophical thoughts. He glanced to Blake, then to Nora and Ren and then to the rest of his friends.

"No, it's nothing – Ozpin just gave me some stuff to think about is all." He replied, deciding his thoughts where a bit strange to share and completely unrelated to the current situation.

"When doesn't he do that though?" Blake questioned in response, chuckling when Ichigo couldn't create an adequate response.

"I guess so," he said, offering Blake his hand. At her surprised look, he supplied "Once in a lifetime opportunity, watch me make a total fool out of myself because I'm feeling generous." She took his hand and led him toward the dance floor. He restated "I'm warning you – I can't dance worth shit." She laughed and started to dance anyway.

He could safely say he made a total fool out of himself that night. Could've been worse though (in his eyes), _he_ could've been the one wearing the dress. That would've been total insult to the gaping wound that was his inability to dance.

Things he did decide that evening however. His friends meant everything to him, and the thoughts invoked made him acknowledge one crucial fact:

' _I'll do anything to protect the people I care about. No matter what.'_ He told himself.

" **Correct answer. Now the real training begins"**

The other thing he realised was that if he ever danced with Blake again he wanted to actually learn how to halfway decently dance first – the first time was way too embarrassing, but at least Blake and everyone around them got a laugh out of it.

* * *

 **So I started writing this chapter on the Seventh of April. I finished it on the Seventh of May. Jeez, what's with the sevens? Who am I, Hiro Mashima or something?**

 **Anyway, can I start profusely apologising now – for several reasons, to the point I'm gonna do a bullet point list without even being sure it'll show up once put on the FF website.**

 **Sorry it took so long to get a new chapter done. Inspiration was lacking but I hope that hasn't cost any quality.**

 **Sorry it'll still take longer for new chapters to get written – I think I've gotten back some inspiration to write this but the problem is mostly upcoming exams.**

 **Sorry to any account using reviewers that I didn't reply to from the last chapter – I seriously lost track of everything and now I don't know who I replied to and who I didn't.**

 **And for those who have actually been here long enough and gone back and noticed it – I AM SO SO SORRY I NEVER WENT BACK AND PROPERLY REDID THE FIRST SEVERAL CHAPTERS LIKE I PROMISED I WOULD – honestly, I look back and realise how much my writing has grown since then (my original chapters now fall under the same category as shit I wouldn't consider reading based on the first chapter). I can't promise I'll ever get around to actually doing it but I want to at some point, who knows when. So many of my story ideas and concepts have changed since I first explained them in those first few chapters that will most definitely get pointed out when they come up in the story in future.**

 **Okay, I'm done with the apologetic crap now, happy?**

 **If anyone has noticed a somewhat small change in the writing style of this story I'd say blame the books I've been reading. Before in this story I'd always try to cover every character's individual thoughts in a sort of generalist perspective and now I've finally changed that to third person perspective following an individual character (which I did have a couple of times before in this story).**

 **Other than that, I feel like I've gotten my inner rant out – usually I'd go into a long and uninteresting rant detailing my thoughts and whatever may have changed or been affected in this chapter but I don't really think it's necessary any more TBH (I guess it was a sense of fear people wouldn't like what choices I made and hate on my story for it).**

 **Just to repeat one point - Sorry to any account using reviewers that I didn't reply to from the last chapter – I seriously lost track of everything and now I don't know who I replied to and who I didn't. Any and all reviews on this chapter and the coming ones I'll make my best effort to reply to with the best of my ability.**

 **If you hadn't guessed it by the note of reviews –**

 **GUEST REVIEWS:**

 **Kestes (Or as I'd introduce them – The dude, the legend – KESTES)**

Hey hey! Great chappy this time. Sorry, no clever comment atm. Ate like a kilo of bbq'd beef (good god it was good..) and im positively stuffed (and sleepy) hahaGood job,Kes

 **Well I hope that beef you had three months ago was good XD Always happy to see you pop up in the reviews.**

 **Guest:**

New chapter! Finally!Still the best crossover on here. I still hope we see a masked Ichigo lose a bit of control. Maybe during the fall of Beacon? ;)Keep this going. It's great.

 **Thanks for the praise, you are too kind. As for the second point, I shall reveal nothing as to my (probably) still changing plans for how events will go then. As for the 'Finally!' jeez I feel that much worse for taking so long XD**

 **Guest:**

The chapter was great but I have a single issue with it. When you Shunpo you don't "buzz" that's Sonído. Shunpo is more of a swishing sound. But, again, other than that great chapter. Keep up the good work and write at your own pace.

 **Well, thanks for the input – I was never really sure how to describe the sound. As for my pace – hopefully I can pick it up again after exams or when Volume 6 drops this fall :P**

 **Guest:**

I'm going to guess that ichigo's sembalance is going to be his mask or the final you know what or something you make up.

 **DINGDINGDING - It's option number three, folks!**

 **Rick:**

Question if this ichigo were to kill a certain full bringer could he steal his old powers back from him in the form of his full bringer basically get the body suit back

 **I have no such plans for that – again though, those plans are still in fluctuation in regards to later volumes as I get closer to them.**

 **Guest:**

Is ichigo going to be this weak for much longer? Seems like he cant put up a decent fight against anyone atm.

 **Keep in mind that (thinks about it for a second) – shit, pretty much EVERY fight I've stuck him against has been against stronger opponents. Though I wouldn't worry about this 'always losing' malarcky – it'll get better :P**

 **Well, that's that for reviews. Honestly I will never be able to thank any single person who gives this story the time of day enough for how far it's come. On a September day when I was bored and procrastinating I never thought I'd create the (albeit not very good) beginnings of something that would become this popular and I know I have all of you to thank for it.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long – See ya next time :D**


	22. An Unexpected Reunion

**(Forewarning: This starting AN was written back when I first started writing this chapter. Ending AN will be written before publishing.)**

 **Not gonna lie, even I'd convinced myself after all the profuse apologising at the end of the last chapter that I'd get myself to be more consistent with chapters for this story, but now it's the sixteenth of August, I haven't updated in just over three months and I'm thinking this might be a repeating pattern until I get better inspiration to continue writing this story (most likely in the form of RWBY Volume Six). Double correction – Volume six might be helping slightly, but schoolwork right now is leaving little room for inspiration, so sorry for slow updates.**

 **Apologies, once again, for any reviews I failed to respond to on the last chapter (though I never fail to read through them all and be continually inspired by how well people think of my third-rate writing abilities), I'd say if people want to make sure I definitely respond to any of their questions I'd suggest PMing me.**

 **Aside from that, if anyone hadn't noticed, I finally got one of the first few chapters rewritten, that being the prologue.**

 **Double aside from that, things in this chapter and future ones may entail disregarding information provided in some of the opening chapters as I didn't fully understand some concepts as I do now and some of the story ideas I have now disagreed with what I intended to happen back then regarding at least one character.**

 **Either way, let's save the long-drawn out explanations or statements for the end of the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or RWBY, all I own is this story and immense shame for not starting this chapter sooner.**

* * *

 **Volume 2: Chapter 6: An Unexpected Reunion**

* * *

"I'm still quite surprised someone managed to accomplish all that they did last night without getting caught." Pyrrha stated, standing by the table in the corner of Team RWBY's dorm room with Jaune sat beside her in the accompanying chair.

"It is surprising that someone managed to break in and bypass all of the security without raising an alarm." Weiss replied.

"Or that nobody realised when Ruby slipped out either" Ichigo supplied from his spot sitting cross-legged on the floor between the haphazardly constructed bunkbeds.

Yang and Nora shrugged collectively "We saw her walk out but we thought she'd just gone to the bathroom" Yang responded.

During the dance, while all the teachers and students had been otherwise occupied someone had taken it as an opening to break in to the CCT tower. Ruby had seen the masked woman when she'd stepped out of the ballroom to get some air and followed her into the CCT where they'd briefly fought before the woman had escaped upon the arrival of General Ironwood.

Despite being told it was best kept a secret, Ruby entrusted (read: nervously babbled) the events of the previous night to her team, and said events were also explained to Team JNIPR seeing as it was definitely a possibility the mystery woman was linked to the still ongoing operations of Torchwick and the White Fang (read: Yang told Nora who almost immediately parroted the information to her team – Yang hadn't even left the room yet).

Ruby had been called back to discuss the events of the previous night with the professors, leaving both teams to anxiously wait and see what result occurred.

"Still," Ren began "for someone, whether related to Torchwick's activities or not, to be bold enough to sneak into the CCT must show something towards the scale of their operation."

"Unfortunately, I think you're right" Blake responded "The CCT towers keep the kingdoms connected. If whoever this woman was had succeeded in tampering with it then Vale would be left with no contact and support from the other kingdoms." Ichigo didn't need any more prompt to understand what that could lead to.

"It could mean they have something big enough planned to endanger the entire kingdom, which could mean it's definitely much higher scale than just stealing Dust or military weaponry." It was a truly terrifying thought if it was true.

"Except we don't have evidence that connects this woman to Torchwick or any plans that could endanger an entire kingdom" Jaune reasoned "It's not going to do any good working ourselves up about this until we can figure out what's actually happening." Ichigo commended his reasoning; Jaune had definitely shown his growth since arriving at Beacon better than most.

' **Or you're just commending him because he's acting like a warrior now compared to back when you all started. I'm definitely sure back then the kid would be pissing himself at the thought of a kingdom falling'** Zangetsu supplied.

"While that's true," Ichigo replied, turning to Blake "You said at the warehouse that night you heard talk about Torchwick having a hideout in the southeast."

Blake nodded "Yes, Torchwick said that some of their forces had been sent there for some sort of operation."

"If their operation expands outside the city of Vale it could explain why local law enforcement hasn't had luck stopping their operations" Pyrrha replied

"Because the police don't leave the city?" Nora questioned, receiving a nod of confirmation.

"It could also explain where they're keeping their stolen military weapons; after all you can't exactly steal and hide a giant Paladin in broad daylight very well." Yang continued.

Ichigo sighed. They could talk and speculate all day but it brought them no closer to stopping Torchwick's operations or even finding them. Even if their speculations were true about Torchwick's hideout and his operation stockpiling weapons and Dust in the southeast they couldn't just leave the kingdom in hopes of finding and stopping them, they were still Huntsmen in training and he doubted they'd get anywhere near before being caught by teachers or Veteran Huntsmen.

' **One step at a time, kid. The plan always comes before the battle and I'm pretty sure you've realised by now rushing in with no plan is a quick way to get dead'**

 _Doesn't mean I have to like sitting around when something like last night happened under my nose without me even sensing it_

Ichigo heard the sigh within his mind, distorted though it may have been **'I'm still unsure why you couldn't sense it either, for now focus on what's ahead'**

The thoughts and speculations of the teens were cut off at the sound of the door opening, and the remaining members of Team RWBY (plus Nora and Jaune) had all rushed to the door at once, with Yang surmising the unanimous thought among them, questioning "What happened?" in a loud tone only emphasised by the anxiety and curiousness of how the situation could develop built up among the teens.

* * *

Ruby explained to them her summons from the professors had simply been to see if she recalled more about the events of the previous night, in which Ruby used the opportunity to lie and say that the mystery woman had spoken of a hideout in the southeast to give the teachers that information without informing them that insight had actually been gained weeks before during a different incident.

"That was a risky move." Weiss stated in response.

"Though it was both a long overdue and necessary one" Ren replied, garnering questioning looks from some of the teens.

"Think about it" Ichigo continued "They needed at least some way of knowing about that hideout before something happened. Now they know they'll be able to prepare a counter if anything does happen."

"He's right" Blake agreed "I think you handled it very well." It didn't escape Ichigo's attention that Blake had satisfaction in her eyes that the proverbial gears were actually turning towards them finding a way to stop Torchwick as opposed to the standstill it had held days before.

"I hope so" Ruby replied nervously, clearly nervous of whether the teachers would take the information seriously.

"You took the initiative in a situation and made a choice. We will simply have to wait and see what becomes of it." Pyrrha reasoned.

Yang placed her hand on her sister's shoulder, responding "I'm sure everything will be alright Ruby." As if some divine entity had realised the quieter, less energised tone of Yang simply didn't scream 'Yang' enough, her normal more boisterous tone returned and she said "Oh! I know what'll cheer you up."

' **Ya ever realised whenever she stops talking then starts again it's like she has to be loud enough to think she just stopped to turn on a megaphone'**

' _Are we talking about Yang or Nora?'_ Ichigo could fully visualise Zangetsu's image that mirrored his own shrugging at him.

Ruby, however, was clearly taken out of her nervous mood in reaction to Yang's statement. "What's that?" she asked, her natural curiosity returning.

Yang gestured to Jaune "Can you get that?" she requested, pointing to a cylindrical container at the opposite side of the desk Jaune was sat at.

"Sure" Jaune responded, grabbing the container "It's a lot heavier than it looks." He stated, gazing quizzically at the tube.

"You sure you aren't just slacking off training?" Nora questioned, then like a whip turned to Ichigo "Ichigo! Train with him again before he stops being able to pick up his sword!" Ren chuckled from his spot next to her.

Jaune paled "I swear it's not my fault. It's actually pretty heavy!"

The members of Team RWBY gazed confusedly at them before Yang swiped the container from Jaune "He's right, it is heavier than it looks" a mischievous gleam came to her eye "Though not by _much_."

' **Does that mean we can beat the crap out of him for a few hours again?'** Zangetsu questioned, proverbial inches away from cackling with glee.

"As _entertaining_ as training like that is, I get the distinct feeling you two are trying to screw Jaune over by getting me to train with him again, and as such I won't because I still owe you two for the other day." Ichigo replied.

Nora started attempting (and failing) to whistle nonchalantly at the exact moment Yang tried to reason "I have no idea what you're talking about." Once more drawing curious looks from the rest of their teams (cementing to Ichigo only these two had schemed to lock Blake and him in a classroom).

Blake rolled her eyes "Sure you don't."

Ruby interjected "As confusing as this entire conversation, which I have no context whatsoever for is, what's in the package anyway?"

Nora looked put out that she'd lost an interesting vein of conversation, and instead settled herself for focusing her rising curiosity into a focused gaze on the container.

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together" Yang replied, holding up the container for emphasis.

Ruby's voice rose to an almost painfully high pitch "Ooh! Something from home!" and then the nervous energy turned curious energy reached a final form as pure excitement as her Semblance quickly had her moved from her spot in the centre of the room to her sister's back, held haphazardly with her legs wrapped around her sister's waist as she waved her arms, trying to grasp the package from Yang's outstretched arm.

Ichigo felt his eye twitch "Couldn't keep the room sane for more than fifteen minutes," he stated.

Blake chuckled in response "Apparently not."

"Whatever you define as sane or insane, it keeps things interesting around the place, does it not?" Pyrrha reasoned, leaving Ichigo to shrug but relent with a nod in response.

The conversation was halted as the sound of Ruby frantically waving her hands in an attempt to reach the package halted, followed by a dull thump on the carpeted floor.

' **Does that cylinder have… fur?'**

It did. The content of the package appeared to be a grey, _furry_ cylinder that seemed to have taken up the entire space of the container.

It wiggled, prompting Jaune to inspect it closer "What… is that?"

He didn't have to wait long to receive his answer. The cylinder wiggled around briefly, freeing _extra limbs?_ The rest of the teens looked on in curiosity as the fuzzy creature raised its head, revealing it to be both grey and white, with two small furry ears protruding from its head and a snout that showed the barest hints of canine teeth.

"Isn't there a rule against pets?" was the only response to appear in Ichigo's mind.

' **Kill it! Kill it! I hate dogs!'** Zangetsu cried.

Both the Zanpakuto and its wielder went interrupted when the dog opened its snout, letting out a small bark that seemed to reboot cognitive function for the rest of the room.

Results were nigh-on instantaneous – Ruby and Yang's expressions lightened in happiness, Ruby's almost imperceptible speed having the dog in her arms in half a second with a jovial cry of "Zwei!"

Weiss had backed away in shock – Blake had practically _leapt_ away.

' **Way to reinforce a stereotype based on what type of Faunus she is'**

 _Weren't you just advocating the death of that animal?_

' **Evil little fluffbags – KILL IT!'**

Jaune had immediately looked completely and utterly baffled at the fact the dog came out of a package that was sent through the _mail_ , let alone that said dog could even fit in the package or went into it willingly and _surely it couldn't have been safe for it to be in there long enough to be mailed from Patch to Beacon?_

Nora had immediately yelled with joy and went to try and hug the dog, only held back by Yang as she tried desperately to get past and swipe the canine from Ruby.

Ren had facepalmed – and seemed to be refusing to remove his palm from his face, perhaps in protest of the continual insanity that had become his life. Then again, Pyrrha wasn't faring any better, holding a smile in the face of most of her friends being happy about the development – though the twitch in her expression was becoming easier to see with each event that defied all logic.

"What was that you said about the insanity keeping everything interesting?" Ichigo muttered despairingly – he could not catch a break from it, could he?

Although Blake had taken a step back – almost standing slightly behind Ichigo, his words seemed to prompt vocal response back into the room. "He sent a dog?!" she exclaimed.

"In the mail?!" Weiss continued, though she received no response from her partner, who was too busy holding the canine and giggling as it licked her face.

Yang simply waved off the concept "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time" she responded.

"Repetition doesn't make it any less insane." Ren muttered off to the side, looking like he could already use some form of headache medication, despite the fact the day had only just started.

Blake seemed to be taking the continued conversation as a chance to flee further away from the dog, now practically looking over Ichigo's shoulder "Your father or your dog?" she questioned, phasing out Ruby's continual baby-talking to the canine.

' **Are we not questioning how we ended up being the first thing she hid behind?'** A pause. **'Nope, okay then'**

"Who cares?" Nora interjected, undeniably shouting from her position still held back by Yang's outstretched arm in the same way a schoolkid would do to one of his shorter peers "I want it! I want the doggie!"

Ichigo and Ren responded immediately, a response ingrained years before "You aren't having a pet Nora!" they both responded at once.

"Not after the hamsters" Ren echoed "Oh God the hamsters…"

"What happened with hamsters?" Pyrrha questioned.

"DON'T ASK!" Ichigo immediately yelled, silencing her and Ren's broken look before he could respond – and slightly jolting Blake, who stood behind him. He sent her an apologetic look seeing as she'd been the closest and had the strongest hearing among them.

Seeing as that topic had effectively been stabbed repeatedly in the face a dozen times with a Khyber knife, Weiss narrowed her gaze towards the dog in Ruby's hands "Are you telling me that this mangy," at the sound of her voice Zwei turned his head, panting in her direction instead of towards Ruby "drooling," the dog continued to pant.

' **If you succumb to this stupid animal's charms I will never forgive you, you frigid bitch!'** Zangetsu howled in rage.

"mutt," Weiss' narrowed gaze quickly turned into a smile "is going to wiv with us forevah? Oh yes he is yes he is!"

Ichigo facepalmed _'It's a dog, not a baby'_

' **Kill it!'** Zangetsu repeated.

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake interjected through the baby-talk. A wise idea in Ichigo's book, seeing as Yang had finally relented her grip and Nora was energetically stroking the dog, joining Weiss and Ruby in babbling to the panting canine.

Ichigo couldn't call it saved by the bell, but 'saved by the P.A.' didn't have quite the same ring to it. Either way he was saved by Professor Goodwitch over said P.A. as she announced "Will all first year students please report to the amphitheatre."

Of course… It was the week where first year students got to shadow professional Huntsmen – Ichigo had completely forgotten in all the recent excitement, between near-death experiences, fighting and the dance the previous night it had completely slipped his mind.

His peers didn't seem to have forgotten so easily, with Weiss slipping out of baby-talking the dog to address her team "Well we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week." Though the conversation had garnered Ruby's attention, leading to her placing Zwei on the floor before the dog immediately padded over to Ichigo and started barking at Blake, who proceeded to grab Ichigo's shoulders and manoeuvre him around the room in an attempt to get away from the dog while Ichigo sighed exasperatedly at the position he'd been placed in.

Yang glossed over Weiss' statement, reaching into the package "Look, there's a letter!" to which Jaune immediately questioned "How can anything else have fit in there?!" before his vocabulary seemed to have ran dry and he kept making confused noises about the total defiance of what could be considered as the laws of physics.

"Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days." Yang read aloud "So I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of" **'Wouldn't a dog-sitter or an incinerator have worked better?'** "Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang." Yang followed by upending the container, allowing a pile of cans, presumably dog food, to topple out – leaving a pile higher than the dog it was meant to feed.

"HOW?" Jaune questioned, seemingly on the brink of breaking. Ren walked up to him, hugging his leader and patting him on the back "Just let it all out" Ren said "It won't get easier, so let it out now."

' _I'm not sure who's venting here, Jaune or Ren?'_

' **Kill it'** Ichigo had decided by this point that trying to converse with his Zanpakuto while Ruby's dog was around was a fruitless endeavour.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss questioned at the sight of the pile of cans that, reasonably, a dog would possess no ability to open. Yang responded by shaking the container again, watching a can opener fall out.

Jaune let out an anguished yell "Please just tell me your father's semblance is the total defiance of all reasonable laws of physics?"

Ruby gazed at her friend uncertainly and nervously, seeing his expression "Y-yeah. Sure. Totally what you just said it was." It was an obvious lie, but Jaune seemed to decide to take it for the sake of his sanity.

"Well, that settles it. Come on, Zwei will be here when we get back." Yang continued.

Nora rushed to the dog, hugging the furry creature with all her might "I will come back, and you will be mine."

"No pets." Ichigo stated, drawing gazes to his position by the door, with Blake still using him as an impromptu shield against the dog. He turned his gaze to her "I am _so_ not letting you live this one down." To which her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"I wouldn't worry." Pyrrha assured her "Nora still has the videos of Ichigo dancing."

Ichigo stiffened, shifting an almost murderous glare onto Nora. "Delete them. _Now."_ He commanded.

Nora stood up straight, chuckling nervously "Okay, but can I send copies to Yang first?" Ichigo's gaze was _definitely_ murderous now, and if anyone were to describe him at that point Blake would be the only one who'd believe his eyes had turned golden. Nora let out an "Eep!" and ran out of the room cackling, a shouting Ichigo hot on her heels.

This seemed to trigger a chain reaction – Blake was left without a shield against Zwei, and almost ended up using her Semblance to launch herself away from the dog that much faster. The remaining members of Team JNIPR took the departure of two of their members as indication it was finally time to leave, following with some sense of urgency to stop whatever drastic measures Ichigo could take to stop the videos of his horrific dancing from ending up anywhere. Yang sprinted after Nora in hopes of receiving said copies of her partner dancing with the orange-haired teen before Ichigo caught Nora, leaving Weiss to sigh exasperatedly and follow them at a walking pace, leaving Ruby alone in the room with her panting pet.

* * *

Ichigo had _very incredibly_ begrudgingly stopped chasing Nora, though mostly due to how quickly the eyes of the now almost filled auditorium fell upon him trying to snag his teammate's scroll. Professor Goodwitch did _not_ look pleased at the display, and Ichigo chose to restrain himself into strangling his teammate later (and maybe Yang, because he didn't doubt those two would find this the perfect opportunity to make as many copies of each of however many videos Nora had taken as possible).

' **Jeez, there's enough souls in here to convince a Hollow he's died and found his way to Heaven's buffet table or to convince a Hollow with common sense to stay the hell away'** Zangetsu commented. Ichigo felt inclined to agree – while the crowd of students on the first day at Beacon had been large and overwhelming, this crowd completely _dwarfed_ that one (and almost encompassed all available space in the auditorium in the process).

"I didn't realise there was so many students from other kingdoms here," Jaune noted once the group had settled near the back of the crowd of Beacon students.

"Given the Vytal Festival I don't think it's too surprising, if anything I expected a larger crowd," Weiss retorted. A fair comment given how large the Festival was and how much attention it got, Ichigo agreed.

"Though it's fair to say given that we've only really associated with a few students from the other schools, and even then they arrived sooner than the rest of their peers." Ren replied calmly.

The sound of microphone static silenced then, along with the rest of the auditorium.

"Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Professor Goodwitch announced, promptly leaving the stage to the bespectacled headmaster.

' **Bets that a 'few words' is a three-hour monologue?'**

' _Or a Shakespearian metaphor thirteen pages long about human nature'_ Ichigo agreed mentally.

' **Che, you've been reading too many books'**

"Today we stand together, united." Ozpin interrupted (though he was undoubtedly completely unaware of interrupting a mental conversation given the rest of the auditorium silencing itself after Goodwitch's announcement.

"Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo and Vale." The professor gestured towards each of the four large collectives the auditorium was divided into – one for each Kingdom's Huntsmen in training. Suddenly Ichigo felt a lot more reassured about the conversation he'd had with Ozpin the previous night – there were this many people each year choosing to fight to protect others, and he found himself questioning his agreement with some of the more cynic Huntsmen's ideologies – after all, whether the world had been through wars and oppression and violence people still had some semblance of unity. "The Four Kingdoms of Remnant." Ozpin surmised.

"On this day nearly eighty years ago," he began, detailing a part of history Ichigo had read about many times in his youth "the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you all are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself, colour. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism and unity, through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it." It was unsurprising the headmaster used an opportunity such as this to speak of the Great War, given the Vytal Festival was meant to celebrate the end of said war.

' **Doesn't make it any less boring than the amount of times you've read about it, though'** Zangetsu countered. Ichigo had to relent to that – the topic would've interested him more had he not read so extensively into it through history books or school studies.

"As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission." **'Finally, the interesting part!'** "Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." His part spoken, the crowd broke into applause and dispersed around the room, presumably to inspect the available missions that had appeared around the outer edges of the auditorium over a dozen or so monitors.

"This is perfect!" Ruby exclaimed once the crowds had dispersed "All we need to do is find Huntsmen to shadow in the southeast!"

"But if we're all doing this we'll need to find two separate missions in the same area." Jaune replied.

"Can't be harder than all the time spent just trying to find a lead on Torchwich after the docks," Blake replied simply, though it sounded as much input into the conversation as it did a joke seeing as she was the only one to spend such vast amounts of time trying to find said lead.

Before the group could disperse to find such missions, Pyrrha cleared her throat to gain the attention of the group.

' **Oh come on!'** Zangetsu whined **'I wanna kill something already!'**

' _Then go harass a tree or something, or take however many years you need to grow some damn patience'_ Ichigo replied.

"Are you sure we are the ones that should be trying to do this?" Pyrrha asked "Like you said before, the teachers have the information of what's going on, so why do we need to involve ourselves further?" Pyrrha's hesitance didn't seem to go unnoticed by anyone in the group.

' **Friggin' goody-two-shoes'** Zangetsu complained.

"Because for all that following guidelines and regulations can accomplish, sometimes it is easier to slip past that lest you let precaution stop you from accomplishing what you see as your duty." A voice suggested. The group turned to see the bespectacled headmaster leaning almost casually by one of the mission boards for 'Search and Destroy' (a premise that had Zangetsu cackling with glee).

Given the surprised silence that ensued, it seemed Ozpin took that as a cue to continue "While Miss Rose has made us aware of the existence of a 'hideout' in the southeast, though I do not quite know how she came upon such information," he gave Ruby a pointed stare, to which she responded with nervous chuckling "the fact remains that in the time it takes General Ironwood with all his protocol and such, the ones behind it all have the perfect opportunity to finish whatever they have planned, or escape and leave us none the wiser. A fact, Miss Nikos, that I believe your teammates and friends have acknowledged and seem to have consequently decided that no matter what happens you shall be the ones to halt whatever operation that is occurring," his gaze swept over the group in a way of measuring their responses, whether hesitant or defiant. Eventually his gaze fell on Ichigo "Am I wrong?"

For all that Ichigo acknowledged this man was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and talk of blatant disregard of rules and regulations that put himself and others in danger, Ichigo had also many times seen the other side to Ozpin – a man as afraid as he himself was of breaking rules to help others (that is to say, not afraid at all), and a man smart enough to see people not as they were, but as they could be in the future – intelligence that was just as useful for taking rigid-steel rules and regulations and turning them into pretty little bowties that he could do with as he wished.

That in mind, he chose honesty "Everything from the docks last semester until now has shown me," he turned to his friends " _Us_ , what those we're up against are truly capable of. Any more time wasted is time they can use to gain a further upper hand, so the way I see it is we've got the opportunity and element of surprise to stop them now."

The teacher took a long swig of his coffee – something Ichigo had seen him do enough times to assume it was a little psychological game to set in as much anticipation or trepidation as possible – before he spoke again "I see you've thought long and hard about this, and I must say it is quite a fair assumption. After all, the military does tend to be rather… loud with everything it does."

"Does that mean you're going to let us do this?" Nora asked, eyes conveying nothing short of confidence in herself and her friends – they _could_ do this.

The professor hummed for a moment, eyes conveying several flickering thoughts and emotions that were quickly replaced with nothing short of mirth "I suppose I shall have to relent this to you. After all, what is a simple headmaster to say when outnumbered nine to one?"

' **Other than the fact the guy is strong enough to take on a Vasto Lorde'** Zangetsu deadpanned.

Ozpin went through several complex pages of information on his scroll with speed only someone who'd been using the device constantly for years would be capable of (though the students weren't really able to understand what was on the scroll given they were staring at the back of it) before the 'Search and Destroy' board next to him changed to display the data for both teams and the starting time to read 'ASAP'.

Ruby was the first to turn from the board back to Ozpin "Thank you Professor."

The previous mirth was gone from Ozpin's face, replaced with grim seriousness "Do not thank me, I simply wish for you all to understand the gravity of the situations you continue to choose to place yourself in. Your abilities, teamwork and perseverance have carried you this far, but outside of this school the world does not care." His tone lightened, some of the prior mirth he'd showed surfacing as his gaze settled on the members of Team JNIPR "Given that it would seem we are now sending two teams on a mission that was originally only asking for one, I've had to take careful consideration before pairing your team with a Huntress capable of both keeping you safe and assessing your abilities."

Despite the 'gravity' Ozpin had mentioned previously, some of the students felt a competitive spark at the opportunity to have their abilities assessed by someone outside of school faculty, with Pyrrha's prior hesitance now gone it made way for a small smile at the opportunity, dwarfed only by Yang's anticipatory grin.

"Make no mistake," Ozpin said "while I have made it a secondary task for this Huntress to settle my worries regarding putting you all in such a situation," his look challenged Ichigo's expression of protest "whether you choose to put yourself in such a position or not, it is primarily her job to complete this mission with your aid and deem whether you are currently capable to be put in such positions. The Huntress I've assigned to you is one I've worked with on quite a few occasions, but she is a brutal teacher, and you'd all do well to learn from her example" his gaze harshened "but the moment she believes any one of you does not possess the skills required, she has been instructed not to hesitate in sending you back to Beacon."

And just as quickly, the serious expression was gone. Ozpin smiled kindly "Good luck," he said, and disappeared into the crowd of students still in the auditorium.

' **Jeez, that guy's more bipolar than I am!'**

"Does anyone get the feeling he knew what we were going to do the entire time?" Ren questioned.

Yang breathed a sigh of relief "So it wasn't just me!" a few laughs came from the group in response.

"Now that that's all over, before we go" Ichigo breathed, cracking his knuckles and letting a predatory, insane and completely _**Hollow**_ grin form on his face. He turned to Nora and Yang as a collective "You're going to delete those videos, or only seven of us are going on this mission."

If Blake was asked later, she would answer and tell you she wasn't entirely sure if it was Ichigo or Zangetsu who was in control during that entire debacle.

* * *

Well, they certainly hadn't lost their penchant for exploration or dawdling since the last time she'd seen them, though to be fair they were still teenagers not yet deserving of the burden for all actions in life to be done with an urgent haste.

Still, _she'd_ been told they were to leave immediately, so was it Ozpin's fault for not telling them that?

Probably, she wouldn't put it past the eccentric headmaster. Which reminded her, she still needed to grill him out – she'd known the _minute_ he'd used that Hollow bait, an object she'd given to him to _research_ its properties, not as a plaything!

She flicked a stray hair out of her face – she'd cut it short again, just above her shoulders. Maybe as a way of reminding herself she was back on full duty working as a Huntress now that her days were less immediately occupied.

Yet another grievance she had against the headmaster – and one she'd been carefully extending her senses throughout the school to confirm – was the distinct lack of a raven-haired drunkard whom she'd been told would be aiding in additional classes this year. Given the current state of events and how things seemed to be progressing, wouldn't it be more prudent for him to be here helping train the next generation than whatever task Ozpin had him on?

Okay, she supposed, that was an unfair comment given how said drunkard was probably Ozpin's closest agent, so the man had probably been given a task even more important than teaching – or he'd gotten so drunk he'd gotten lost on the other side of Vale trying to book a hotel room in a bookshop (it wouldn't be the first time).

Given the dozens of minutes she'd spent roaming over these thoughts, shouldn't they already be here now? She extended her senses again to roam the vicinity for the nine presences, searching for the energetic glow she'd become so accustomed to accompanied by the quiet support and strength that would undoubtedly be close behind. What she didn't _necessarily_ expect (given she'd mostly been scanning the area with little attention to the size or presence of the power, just it's general presence within her sensory range) was the third presence she'd expected – the one she found most comfort in being able to discern no matter what – the presence that was once barely there, not even a fraction of a blip on her radar that she'd had to spend weeks training herself just to find to reassure herself that nothing had happened – to find that miniscule presence had been replaced by one that practically overwhelmed her, leaving her breath to escape in ragged gasps when she'd tried to inspect the blazing pyre of power further, to make sure she wasn't just mistaking some other student.

"I don't get it!" a girl's voice rang out – one of the students she'd be going with, she knew. Her Aura was a bright red, and on further inspection of the aura within the group as a whole, she acknowledged she'd certainly been paired with a group with vast amounts of aura between them, the ones she recognised aside. "Professor Ozpin said we'd be meeting the Huntress here, but there's nobody here other than us!"

She quickly realised she'd chosen to lean against a pillar off the main walkway to the school, inadvertently hiding herself from the view of the two teams she'd been put in charge of while she gathered her thoughts.

Though, and her absentminded expression quickly fell into a smile at this thought, this could be a good chance to see if the sudden (and quite exponentially drastic) increase in the oh-so-familiar Aura reflected anything.

"Could it be that in your haste for us to leave you read the wrong timing or pickup point?" Another girl replied – the pale blue Aura and tone quickly identified the Schnee among them.

"No, I triple-checked it to make sure, we are in the right place, and the Professor set the mission time to start as soon as possible." A male voice replied – the second largest Aura in the group.

"Perhaps the Huntress didn't receive the notice and is currently on her way? The Professor did change the mission time on the spot and that _was_ only a few minutes ago. There's little someone could do unless they were already on Beacon grounds." The reserved pink Aura replied, calm and keen as ever.

The conversation paused, the light purple Aura speaking up "What was that Ichigo?"

She wasn't even part of the conversation but even _she_ could feel the pregnant silence that reigned as the group (most likely) looked for whatever the until-now silent Ichigo had said so quietly only one of them heard.

"I asked what I did to piss someone off in a past life and why Ozpin didn't say anything earlier." He relented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The yellow Aura replied.

He didn't directly address any in his group, but she didn't need that indication to tell her she was the one he spoke to next "Do you wanna tell them or should I?"

She stepped out from behind the pillar to face eight confused teens and Ichigo. Though two thirds of the group had no idea who she was, it still brought her a smile to see how quickly Nora started beaming and smiling uncontrollably, along with the smile to grace Ren's features.

Ichigo, at least, looked slightly nervous and abashed, but recovered quickly.

"Hey Mom." He greeted

* * *

 **So… right. Made that whole 'hopefully it won't take another three months to update' speech in the last chapter, and then went and took until gosh-damn FEBRUARY to update. Said guilt of not updating is made worse knowing I've had this chapter complete for a good month or three, but didn't want to publish until I'd also finished the next chapter. Which I still haven't finished.**

 **Warning: profuse apologising inbound.**

 **I am so friggin' sorry about not updating, especially with all the positive support my stories continue to get that I honestly do not believe I deserve when there are so many more talented writers on this site that my writing is worse than third-rate in comparison. Honestly, life has been a hectic crapbasket for the past few months, and seems to have no intention of stopping. I'd fully intended to use the entire damn summer to get further in my stories, but life got in the way – and then there's the next biggest issue stopping me other than life, that being lacking inspiration. I have loved writing this story, I really have (even if looking back now I can see how exponentially worse my writing was then) but whenever I manage to sit down and write my brain decides to draw blanks on what to write and I end up doing something else, and for that I'm sorry.**

 **I will, however, give the reassurance that I have NO INTENTION TO ABANDON MY STORIES. No matter how long updating may take me (because of life and the fact I'm doing A-Levels now and have politics essays bleeding out of my ears) I want to continue writing these stories, and all I can say is if you really think my writing is worth continuing to read despite however long it may take me to update then thank you.**

 **Okay, overdramatic 'I'm sorry' speech over. Feels weird to be writing one of these after such a long break, but I'm interested to hear what people think of what I've done this time around. So Masaki is back, and as I said before, she's the character I think you might need to disregard anything I said about in some of the Volume 0 chapters (because back when I started writing I had an entirely different plan and she was essentially a plot device destined to be killed off before Volume 1 in what I usually refer to as 'That thing we don't talk about'). As far as JNIPR going along with RWBY to Mountain Glenn – it honestly made the most sense to me, purely from it being the most interesting thing to write (as well as highlighting JNIPR being more involved in everything that's going on instead of being sideliners until midway through Volume 3 and beyond), especially with Masaki replacing Oobleck as the Huntsman being shadowed.**

 **Anybody checked out gen:LOCK? I'd say it's pretty good (a 'duh' moment if you've ever seen Doctor Who, because I'm one of those people that think David Tennant makes anything gold). Only issue it has is that it took no time at the start to establish any of the political situation – yes, we know it's set far in the future, futuristic techno-sci-fi and all that. Other than that? Not much more than what we get from statements in dialogue (oh, the good guys are called 'The Polity' and the bad guys are called 'The Union') but not much more than that establishing the world – which is something RWBY tackled with exposition dead at the start of the series, and continued to expand through the 'World of Remnant' episodes. I'd still say it's worth the watch, though. Loving the characters so far (and for anyone who wants to point out 'The first episode is free but the rest is only for FIRST members', I'd kindly point you to the people that manage to upload the episodes for free on the internet within hours of the episode being released – and yes, I feel slightly bad, but I'm too broke to afford a FIRST membership).**

 **Anyway, not much more I can think to talk about, so I guess I'll (hopefully) be replying to as many reviews as I can and (hopefully) will update within the year – that's a more realistic goal, right?**

 **See ya next time :D**


	23. Notice of DiscontinuationHiatus

I'd really like to be able to think of something witty or funny to say right now, but I really can't think of anything. So on to the greatly disappointing stuff.

A bit of background for you:

I started writing To Shatter Fate (started writing in general) after a day of total boredom and the sudden thought of "Why the hell not?" after being inspired by other Bleach and RWBY Crossovers I'd spent around a year being a fan of.

See, I had a thing for Bleach where I was a fan of Ichigo as a more relatable and human protagonist, so that's where my mind went as a good base character for interesting crossovers, not to mention similarities between Bleach and RWBY I could bend to my advantage.

This same habit for ideas crossing other stories with Bleach is what eventually happened after I'd blitzed through the Percy Jackson books and was halfway through Heroes of Olympus, leading to the birth of A Protector Until The End, another story born of a dry patch in writing To Shatter Fate and a thought of "Why the hell not?" upon realising I had little interest in any of the existing PJO-Bleach crossovers.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure I've much interest any more in continuing A Protector Until The End, and it's probably because my interest regarding books has moved on to other series and left me pondering why I started another story – I'm not saying I regret doing it, and I like the direction I was taking, I just have little inspiration to continue it.

Back to To Shatter Fate – it was my first story starting off on this site, and those of you that've read since the start will know I uploaded seven chapters in seven days – a sort of passionate, inspired feeling upon realising people existed that thought my writing was actually anything passable. This led to something I'd come to refer to as 'that thing we don't talk about' where I'd had a character present in the story and somewhat established who was then used as a disposable plot device in a shoddily written scene and when I realised what people thought I too realised it was dumb and took it down, declaring the story on hiatus – for all of two days. And then I was back with newfound inspiration and took it in a completely different direction – Ichigo would no longer regain memories of his original life as I'd planned, and other ideas came in and spanned off from it. Except, and in my honest opinion, this led to me creating an Ichigo who vaguely held semblances of what he was in Bleach, but with the occasional pointless extra power thrown in because I thought it sounded cool at the time – and after looking through Bleach and various analyses I realised I wasn't entirely happy with this.

Problem is by this point I'd found myself in the rut in which I currently remain – my life moves onwards through school and other such things and between life and school what free time I do find myself with I find myself uninspired to continue or thinking of things I might've done differently should I go back with what I know now.

So yes, after all the clichéd 'I don't want to be like other writers who just abruptly cancel their stories or stick them on indefinite hiatus' that's probably likely to happen. I'd love to say I'll get right on whatever I want to do next but that won't happen, because I'm unsure if I'd simply like to get myself out of this rut and continue, rewrite To Shatter Fate from the ground up, or discontinue it alongside A Protector Until The End and start something new altogether.

I am deeply sorry to all of you who've invested time in reading my stories and given your criticisms and support and I can only hope that, should I return to writing, that I do so with more commitment and something you can enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

Thank you all, it's been a tremendous honour writing stories you've taken the time to read.

 **TL:DR – To Shatter Fate and A Protector Until The End should be considered as Discontinued/ Indefinite Hiatus. I may consider deleting them from the site altogether so as to not disappoint more people who take the time to read them. This update will go onto both stories.**

Endless apologies to you all.

See ya next time…?


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